THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


William  F.  Brown 


INCREASING   HUMAN   EFFICIENCY 
IN   BUSINESS 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON  •    CHICAGO 
SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


INCREASING 

HUMAN    EFFICIENCY 

IN  BUSINESS 


A    CONTRIBUTION    TO    THE 
PSYCHOLOGY     OF     BUSINESS 


BY 

WALTER  DILL  SCOTT 

PROFESSOR   OF   PSYCHOLOGY   AND   DIRECTOR   OF  PSYCHO- 
LOGICAL LABORATORY,  NORTHWESTERN   UNIVERSITY 
EVANSTON,  ILL. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1912 

uf//  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY  THE  SYSTEM  COMPANY  AND  BY  THE  BUSINESS 
MAN'S  PUBLISHING  COMPANY,  LIMITED. 

COPYRIGHT,  1911,  BY  THE  SYSTEM  COMPANY  AND  BY 
THE  RIDGEWAY  COMPANY. 

COPYRIGHT,  1911, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  November,  1911.    Reprinted 
January,  1912. 


J.  B.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  <fe  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


GSMgmL 
Library 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VAGI 

I.     THE    POSSIBILITY    OF    INCREASING   HUMAN    EFFI- 

CIENCY         ......          I 

II.      IMITATION  AS  A   MEANS   OF  INCREASING    HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY   ......        26 

III.  COMPETITION  AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY    ......        48 

IV.  LOYALTY  AS  A    MEANS    OF    INCREASING    HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY   .          .          .          .          .          •        75 

V.      CONCENTRATION    AS     A     MEANS    OF    INCREASING 

HUMAN  EFFICIENCY          .          .  .  .104 

VI.      WAGES    AS    A    MEANS    OF    INCREASING     HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY    .  .  .  .          .  .132 

VII.      PLEASURE    AS    A    MEANS   OF   INCREASING  HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY    .          .          .          .          .          .165 

VIII.      THE  LOVE  OF  THE  GAME  AND  EFFICIENCY         .      186 

IX.      RELAXATION  AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN 

EFFICIENCY   ......      204 

X.      THE  RATE  OF  IMPROVEMENT  IN  EFFICIENCY       .      223 
XI.      PRACTICE  PLUS  THEORY          .          .          .          .254 

XII.      MAKING      EXPERIENCE     AN     ASSET  :     JUDGMENT 

FORMATION   .  .  .  .  .  .276 

XIII.      CAPITALIZING  EXPERIENCE  :  HABIT  FORMATION  .      303 

Y 


1841394 


INCREASING   HUMAN   EFFI- 
CIENCY  IN   BUSINESS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN 
EFFICIENCY 

THE  modern  business  man  is  the  true 
heir  of   the   old   magicians.     Every 
thing  he  touches  seems  to  increase 
ten  or  a  hundredfold  in  value  and  usefulness. 
All  the  old  methods,  old  tools,  old  instruments 
have  yielded  to  his  transforming  spell  or  else 
been  discarded  for  new  and   more   effective 
substitutes.      In   a   thousand    industries   the 
profits  of  to-day  are  wrung  from  the  wastes 
or  unconsidered  trifles  of  yesterday. 

The  only  factor  which  has  withstood  this 
wizard  touch  is  man  himself.  Development 
of  the  instruments  of  production  and  distri- 
bution has  been  so  great  it  can  hardly  be 


2    Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

measured :  the  things  themselves  have  been 
so  changed  that  few  features  of  their  primitive 
models  have  been  retained. 

Our  railroad  trains,  steamships,  and  print- 
ing presses  preserve  a  likeness  more  apparent 
than  actual.  Our  telephones,  electric  lights, 
gas  engines,  and  steam  turbines,  our  lofty  office 
buildings  and  huge  factories  crowded  with 
wonderful  automatic  machinery  are  creations 
of  the  generation  of  business  men  and  scien- 
tists still  in  control  of  them. 

By  comparison  the  increase  in  human  effi- 
ciency during  this  same  period  (except  where 
the  worker  is  the  slave  of  the  machine,  compelled 
to  keep  pace  with  it  or  lose  his  place)  has  been 
insignificant. 

Reasons  for  this  disproportion  are  not 
lacking.  The  study  of  the  physical  antedates 
the  study  of  the  mental  always.  In  the  his- 
tory of  the  individual  as  well  as  of  nations, 
knowledge  of  the  psychical  has  dragged  far 
behind  mastery  of  tangible  objects.  We  come 
in  contact  with  our  physical  environment  and 
adjust  ourselves  to  it  long  before  we  begin  to 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency    j 

study  the  acts  by  which  we  have  been  able 
to  control  objects  around  us. 

It  was  inevitable,  therefore,  that  attention 
should  have  been  concentrated  upon  the  ma- 
terial and  mechanical  side  of  production  and 
distribution.  Results  there  were  so  tangible, 
so  easily  figured.  For  example,  if  the  speed 
of  a  drill  or  the  strokes  of  a  punch  press  were 
multiplied,  the  increase  would  be  easily  recog- 
nized. The  whole  country,  too,  was  absorbed 
in  invention,  in  the  development  of  tools  to 
accomplish  what  had  always  required  hand 
labor.  The  effort  was  not  so  much  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  individual  worker  — 
though  many  wise  and  far-sighted  employers 
essayed  studies  and  experiments  with  varying 
success  —  as  to  displace  the  human  factor 
altogether. 

As  the  functions  and  limitations  of  ma- 
chinery have  become  clearer  in  recent  years, 
business  men  have  generally  recognized  the 
importance  of  the  human  factor  in  making 
and  marketing  products.  Selecting  and  han- 
dling men  is  of  much  more  significance  to-day 


4    Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  world 
—  the  more  so  as  organizations  have  in- 
creased in  size  and  scope  and  the  individual 
employee  is  farther  removed  from  the  head 
and  assigned  greater  responsibilities. 

It  is  not  a  difficult  task  to  build  and  equip 
a  factory,  to  choose  and  stock  a  store.  The 
problems  of  power  and  its  transmission  come 
nearer  solution  every  day.  Physics  and  chem- 
istry have  revealed  the  secrets  of  raw  ma- 
terials. For  any  given  service,  the  manufac- 
turer can  determine  the  cheapest  and  most 
suitable  metal,  wood,  or  fabric  which  will 
satisfy  his  requirements,  and  the  most  eco- 
nomical method  of  treating  it. 

Of  the  elements  involved  in  production  or 
distribution,  the  human  factor  is  to-day  the 
most  serious  problem  confronting  the  busi- 
ness man.  The  individual  remains  to  be 
studied,  trained,  and  developed  —  to  be 
brought  up  to  the  standard  of  maximum 
results  already  reached  by  materials  and 
processes. 

Few  employers  can  gather  a  force  of  effi- 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency    5 

cient  workers  and  keep  them  at  their  best. 
Not  only  is  it  difficult  to  select  the  right  men 
but  it  is  even  harder  to  secure  top  efficiency 
after  they  are  hired.  Touching  this,  there 
will  be  no  dispute.  Experts  in  shop  manage- 
ment go  even  farther.  F.  W.  Taylor,  who  has 
made  the  closest  and  most  scientific  study, 
perhaps,  of  actual  and  potential  efficiency 
among  workers,  declares  that :  — 

"A  first-class  man  can,  in  most  cases,  do 
from  two  to  four  times  as  much  as  is  done  on 
the  average." 

"This  enormous  difference,"  Mr.  Taylor 
goes  on  to  say,  "exists  in  all  the  trades  and 
branches  of  labor  investigated,  from  pick- 
and-shovel  men  all  the  way  up  the  scale  to 
machinists  and  other  skilled  workmen.  The 
multiplied  output  was  not  the  product  of  a 
spurt  or  a  period  of  overexertion ;  it  was 
simply  what  a  good  man  could  keep  up  for 
a  long  term  of  years  without  injury  to  his 
health,  become  happier,  and  thrive  under." 

Ask  the  head  of  any  important  business 
what  is  the  first  qualification  of  a  foreman 


6    Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

or  manager,  and  he  will  tell  you  "ability  to 
handle  men." 

Men  who  know  how  to  get  maximum  results 
out  of  machines  are  common;  the  power  to  get 
the  maximum  of  work  out  of  subordinates  or  out 
of  yourself  is  a  much  rarer  possession. 

Yet  this  power  is  not  necessarily  a  sixth 
sense  or  a  fixed  attribute  of  personality. 
It  is  based  on  knowledge  of  the  workings  of 
the  other  man's  mind,  either  intuitive  or 
acquired.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  and  suc- 
ceeding chapters  to  consider  some  of  the 
aspects  of  human  nature  that  can  be  turned 
to  advantage  in  the  cultivation  of  individual 
efficiency  and  the  elimination  of  lost  motion 
and  wasted  effort. 

In  a  thousand  instances,  in  factory  and 
market  place,  unrecognized  use  has  been  made 
of  the  principles  of  psychology  by  business 
men  to  influence  other  men  and  to  attain  their 
ends. 

For  the  science  of  psychology  is  in  respect 
to  certain  data  merely  common  sense,  the  wisdom 
of  experience,  analyzed,  formulated,  and  codified. 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency    7 

It  has  taken  its  place,  alongside  physics  and 
chemistry,  as  the  ally  and  employee  of  trade  and 
industry. 

The  time  has  come  when  a  man's  knowledge 
of  his  business,  if  the  larger  success  is  to  be 
won,  must  embrace  an  understanding  of  the 
laws  which  govern  the  thinking  and  acting  of 
the  men  who  make  and  sell  his  products  as  well 
as  those  others  who  buy  and  consume  them. 

The  achievements  of  the  human  mind  and 
the  human  body  seem  to  many  to  be  out  of 
the  range  of  possible  improvement  through 
application  of  any  science  which  deals  with 
these  human  activities.  Muscular  strength 
and  mental  efficiency  seem  to  be  fixed  quanti- 
ties not  subject  to  increase  or  improvement. 

The  contention  here  supported,  however,  is 
that  human  efficiency  is  a  variable  quantity 
which  increases  and  decreases  according  to  law. 
By  the  application  of  known  physical  laws  the 
telephone  and  the  telegraph  have  supplanted  the 
messenger  boy.  By  the  laws  of  psychology 
applied  to  business  equally  astounding  improve- 
ments are  being  and  will  be  secured. 


8     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Employers  sometimes  find  that  their  men 
are  not  working  well,  that  they  loaf  and  kill 
time  on  every  possible  occasion.  The  men 
are  not  trying  and  are  indifferent  to  results. 
Under  such  circumstances  a  new  foreman, 
the  dismissal  of  the  poorer  workmen,  modi- 
fication of  the  wage  scale  or  method  of 
payment,  or  some  other  device  may  correct 
the  evil  and  induce  the  men  to  exert  them- 
selves. 

Again,  the  men  are  working  industriously 
and  may  feel  that  an  increase  in  output  would 
be  injurious  to  health  or  even  impossible. 
They  think  they  are  doing  their  best;  while 
the  employer  himself  may  feel  that  he  is 
achieving  but  little,  although  he  assumes  that 
he  is  doing  as  much  as  it  is  wise  to  attempt. 
For  instance,  Mr.  Taylor,  in  his  studies,  found 
that  both  employers  and  men  had  only  a  vague 
conception  of  what  constituted  a  full  day's 
work  for  a  first-class  man.  The  good  work- 
men knew  they  could  do  more  than  the  aver- 
age ;  but  refused  to  believe  when,  after  close 
observation  and  careful  timing  of  the  ele- 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency    9 

ments  of  each  operation,  they  were  shown  that 
they  could  accomplish  twice  or  three  times  as 
much  as  their  customary  tasks. 

Actual  instances  prove  that  great  increase  of 
work  and  results  can  be  secured  by  outside  stimu- 
lus and  by  conscious  effort. 

If  there  is  one  place  where  the  limit  of 
exertion  can  be  counted  upon,  it  is  in  an  inter- 
collegiate athletic  contest.  While  taking  part 
in  football  games,  I  frequently' observed  that 
my  team  would  be  able  to  push  the  opposing 
team  halfway  across  the  field.  Then  the 
tables  would  be  turned  and  my  team  would 
give  ground.  At  one  moment  one  team  would 
seem  to  possess  much  superior  physical 
strength  to  the  other;  the  next  moment  the 
equilibrium  would  be  changed  apparently 
without  cause.  Often,  however,  the  weaker 
team  would  rally  in  response  to  the  captain's 
coaching.  On  the  field  a  player  frequently 
finds  himself  unable  to  exert  himself.  His 
greatest  effort  is  necessary  to  force  himself  to 
work.  In  such  a  mental  condition  a  vigorous 
and  enthusiastic  appeal  from  the  coach  may 


IO     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

supply  the  needed  stimulus  and  stir  him  to 
sudden  display  of  all  his  strength. 

I  recently  conducted  a  series  of  experi- 
ments on  college  athletes  to  determine 
whether  coaching  could  actually  increase  a 
man's  strength  when  he  was  already  trying 
his  "best,"  and  whether  he  could  continue 
to  work  after  he  was  "completely  exhausted." 
I  put  each  man  at  work  on  machines  which  al- 
lowed him  to  exert  himself  to  his  utmost  and 
measured  his  accomplishment.  While  he  was 
thus  employed,  the  coach  began  urging  him  to 
increase  his  exertion.  Ordinarily  the  increase 
was  marked  —  sometimes  as  much  as  fifty 
per  cent. 

Again,  when  the  man  had  exhausted  him- 
self without  coaching,  the  extra  demand  would 
be  made  on  him ;  usually  he  was  able  to  con- 
tinue, even  though  without  the  coaching  he 
had  been  unable  to  do  any  more.  There  was, 
of  course,  a  point  of  exhaustion  at  which  the 
coaching  ceased  to  be  effective. 

The  tests  proved  conclusively  that  when  a  man 
is  doing  what  he  believes  to  be  his  best,  he  is  still 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     n 

able  to  do  better;  when  he  is  completely  exhausted, 
he  is,  under  proper  stimulus,  able  to  continue. 

Before  a  horse  is  started  in  a  race  it  is 
vigorously  exercised,  "warmed  up."  To  the 
uninitiated  this  process  seems  so  strenuous 
as  to  defeat  its  purpose  by  wearing  out  the 
strength  of  the  horse.  Every  horseman  knows, 
however,  that  the  animal  cannot  attain  top 
speed  till  after  it  has  undergone  this  severe 
discipline. 

In  training  for  a  contest  an  athlete  usually 
takes  long  runs.  Soon  after  the  start  he  feels 
weary  and  exhausted,  but,  by  disregarding  this 
feeling  and  continuing  to  run,  a  sudden  change 
comes  over  him  commonly  known  as  "getting 
his  second  wind." 

Thus  the  runner  feels  wave  upon  wave  of 
exhaustion  followed  by  waves  of  invigoration. 
Had  he  stopped  when  he  first  began  to  tire, 
he  never  would  have  known  of  his  wonderful 
reserve  fund  of  strength  which  can  be  drawn 
upon  only  by  passing  through  the  feeling 
of  exhaustion.  He  seems  to  be  able  to  tap 
deeper  and  deeper  reservoirs  of  strength. 


12     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Many  men  have  never  discovered  their  reserve 
stores  of  strength  because  they  have  formed  the 
fixed  habit  of  quitting  at  the  first  access  of  weari- 
ness. 

Thus  they  never  become  conscious  of  the 
wonderful  resources  which  might  be  used  if 
they  were  willing  to  disregard  the  trifling 
wave  of  weariness. 

Our  best  energies  are  not  on  the  surface 
and  are  not  available  without  great  exertion. 
We  have  to  warm  up  and  get  our  second  wind 
before  we  are  capable  of  our  best  physical  or 
mental  accomplishments.  All  our  muscular 
and  psychical  processes  are  dependent  upon 
the  activity  of  the  nervous  system.  This  ac- 
tivity seems  to  be  at  its  best  only  after  re- 
peated and  vigorous  stimulation  and  after 
it  has  reached  down  to  profound  and  widely 
distributed  centers. 

Most  of  us  never  know  of  our  possible  achieve- 
ments because  we  have  never  warmed  up  and 
got  our  second  wind  in  our  business  or  profes- 
sional affairs. 

When  an  individual  succeeds  in  tapping  his 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     13 

reserve  energies,  others  marvel  at  the  tremen- 
dous tasks  he  accomplishes.  They  judge  in 
terms  of  superficial  energy,  and  for  such  the 
results  would,  of  course,  be  impossible,  even 
though  many  of  the  admiring  spectators  could 
actually  equal  or  excel  the  deed. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  work  achieved 
by  Mr.  Edward  Pay  son  Weston  who  recently 
walked  the  entire  distance  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco  without  halt  or  rest  in  one 
hundred  and  four  days.  Throughout  the 
entire  journey  Mr.  Weston  covered  about 
fifty  miles  daily,  once  attaining  the  remarkable 
distance  of  eighty-seven  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours.  Though  Mr.  Weston  is  seventy  years 
of  age,  at  the  close  of  the  walk  he  seemed  to  be 
relatively  free  from  exhaustion  and  undaunted 
in  spirit. 

The  work  accomplished  by  such  men  as 
Gladstone  and  Roosevelt  is  incomprehensible 
to  most  of  us  who  have  never  undertaken 
more  than  puny  tasks.  These  men  retain  their 
strength  and  in  no  way  seem  to  be  undermining 
their  health  by  the  accomplishment  of  their 


14     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Herculean  labors.  Body  and  mind  seem  to 
respond  to  the  demands  made  upon  them. 
Their  periods  of  sleep  and  their  vacations 
seem  to  be  no  more  than  the  hours  and  days 
of  rest  required  by  those  of  us  who  accomplish 
infinitely  less. 

No  need,  however,  to  go  beyond  the  field 
of  business  or  industry  to  find  men  whose 
super-energy  has  carried  them  to  epochial 
discoveries  or  feats  of  organization.  The 
invention  of  the  incandescent  lamp  by  Edison 
is  said  to  have  been  accomplished,  for  instance, 
only  after  forty-eight  hours'  continuous  con- 
centration on  the  final  problem  of  finding  the 
right  carbon  filament  and  determining  the 
proper  degree  of  vacuum  in  the  inclosing 
bulb.  Months  of  experiment  and  research 
had  gone  before ;  eighteen  hours  a  day  in  the 
laboratory  had  been  no  uncommon  thing  for 
the  inventor  and  his  assistants,  but  in  the  last 
strenuous  grapple  with  success  his  own  physi- 
cal and  mental  powers  were  alone  equal  to  the 
strain.  Not  once  during  the  two  days  and 
nights  did  he  rest  or  sleep  or  take  his  attention 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     15 

from  the  successive  tests  which  led  up  to  the 
assembling  of  the  lamp  which  lights  the  world's 
work  and  play. 

The  steel  blade  that  is  used  seems  to  last  as 
long  as  the  one  which  is  allowed  to  lie  idle. 
The  wearing  out  in  the  one  case  does  not  seem 
to  be  more  destructive  than  the  rusting  out 
in  the  other. 

We  have  a  choice  between  wearing  out  and 
rusting  out.  Most  of  us  unwittingly  have 
chosen  the  rusting  process. 

This,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  be  Edison's 
regular  method  of  work,  as  it  is  the  method  of 
many  other  men  who  have  accomplished  great 
things  in  science  and  industry.  Both  mind 
and  body  have  been  trained  and  accustomed  to 
exertions  which  seem  quite  impossible  to  ordi- 
nary individuals. 

Many  persons  find  that  increased  intel- 
lectual activity  results  in  less  fatigue  and 
greater  achievements.  As  a  student  I  did 
my  best  work  and  enjoyed  it  most  the  year 
I  carried  the  greatest  number  of  courses  and 
assumed  the  most  outside  duties.  In  my 


1 6     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

capacity  as  adviser  to  college  students  I  find 
many  who  are  able  to  accomplish  thirty  per 
cent  more  work  than  is  expected  of  college 
students  but  fail  to  do  equally  well  the  regular 
amount.  There  are  others  who  can  carry  the 
regular  amount  but  not  more  without  injury 
to  their  health. 

College  grades  afford  a  means  of  recording 
intellectual  efficiency  directed  toward  particu- 
lar problems.  With  no  apparent  change  in 
bodily  conditions  the  same  student  frequently 
increases  his  efficiency  a  hundred  per  cent. 
The  increase  seldom  has  an  injurious  effect 
on  health,  but  is  merely  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  he  has  suddenly  wakened  up  and  is 
applying  energies  which  before  were  undis- 
covered. A  slow  walk  for  a  single  mile  leaves 
many  persons  "dragged  out"  and  exhausted, 
but  a  brisk  walk  of  the  same  or  a  greater  dis- 
tance results  in  invigoration  and  recuperation. 
Likewise  the  droning  over  an  intellectual  task 
results  in  exhaustion,  while  vigorous  treatment 
whets  the  appetite  for  additional  problems. 

This  swift,  decisive  attack  on  problems  was 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     17 

the  method  of  Edward  H.  Harriman,  who 
crowded  into  ten  years  the  railroad  achieve- 
ments of  an  extraordinary  lifetime.  Decisions 
involving  expenditure  of  many  millions  of 
dollars  were  arrived  at  so  quickly  as  to  seem 
off-hand,  even  reckless.  In  reality,  they  were 
the  products  of  brief  periods  of  intense  appli- 
cation in  which  he  reviewed  all  the  conditions 
and  elements  involved,  and  forged  his  conclu- 
sion, as  it  were,  at  white  heat.  Back  of  each 
decision  was  exact  and  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  physical  and  traffic  conditions  of  each 
of  his  railroads.  In  the  case  of  the  Union 
Pacific,  at  least,  he  gained  this  mastery  by 
patient,  intensive  study  of  each  grade  and 
curve  and  freight-producing  town  on  its  1800 
miles  of  track. 

The  inhabitant  of  the  torrid  zone  upon 
moving  to  a  northern  climate  is  severely 
affected  by  the  chill  of  the  atmosphere.  The 
discomfort  may  last  for  days  or  months,  but 
he  becomes  acclimated  and  is  able  to  withstand 
the  cold  without  serious  discomfort.  Likewise 
the  inhabitant  of  a  cool  climate  feels  exhausted 


1 8     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

by  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone.  In  some  cases 
he  is  unable  to  accustom  himself  to  the  change, 
but  in  many  instances  the  acclimatization 
follows  rapidly  and  leaves  the  individual  well 
fortified  against  the  dangers  of  excessive  heat. 

Persons  who  have  accustomed  themselves 
to  stimulants  of  any  sort  are  completely  de- 
pleted if  they  are  unable  to  get  the  special 
form  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed. 
This  holds  true  for  tobacco,  morphine,  coffee, 
and  many  other  forms  of  stimulants  actually 
indulged  in  by  many  persons.  If  they  are 
able  to  resist  the  temptation  and  deny  them- 
selves the  stimulant,  the  period  of  exhaustion 
soon  disappears  and  the  subject  may  even  lose 
all  craving  for  that  which  formerly  seemed 
essential  to  his  very  existence. 

The  quantity  which  we  eat  is  partly  a 
matter  of  habit.  There  is  doubtless  a  mini- 
mum of  nourishment  which  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  health  and  strength.  On  the  other 
hand  there  is  doubtless  a  maximum  limit 
which  cannot  be  passed  without  serious  injury. 
Our  bodies  seem  to  demand  the  amount  of 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     19 

food  to  which  we  have  accustomed  them.  If 
we  should  increase  the  amount  ten  or  twenty 
per  cent,  we  might,  for  a  while,  feel  some 
discomfort  from  it,  but  soon  our  system 
would  begin  to  demand  the  greater  quantity 
and  we  could  not  again  return  to  the  lighter 
diet  without  a  period  of  discomfort.  Like- 
wise the  amount  of  food  which  most  of  us 
consume  could  be  reduced  materially  with  no 
permanent  injury  or  reduction  of  energy  or 
danger  to  health.  Following  the  reduction 
would  be  a  period  of  discomfort  and  probable 
reduction  of  weight.  This  period  would  last 
for  but  a  relatively  short  time,  after  which  we 
would  again  strike  a  physiological  equilibrium 
such  that  an  increase  of  food  would  not  be 
craved  nor  be  of  any  benefit. 

Any  great  increase  in  the  amount  of  physical 
or  mental  work  results  in  a  feeling  of  weariness 
which  is  usually  sufficient  to  cause  us  to  return 
to  our  habitual  amount  of  expenditure  of 
energy.  Our  system  is,  however,  wonderful 
in  its  capacity  to  adjust  itself  to  changed 
demands  which  come  upon  it,  whether  these 


2o     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

demands  be  in  the  nature  of  changes  in  tem- 
perature, in  stimulants,  in  nourishment,  or  in 
the  expenditure  of  physical  or  mental  energy. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  limit  to  possible  human 
achievements.  There  are  resources  which 
may  not  be  exhausted  without  serious  injury 
to  health.  Those  who  accomplish  most,  how- 
ever, compare  favorably  with  others  in  length 
of  days  and  retention  of  health. 

While  overwork  has  its  place  among  the  things 
which  reduce  energy  and  shorten  life,  it  is  my 
opinion  that  overwork  is  not  so  dangerous  or  so 
common  as  is  ordinarily  supposed. 

In  not  a  few  industries,  the  dominant  house 
or  firm  has  for  its  head  a  man  past  seventy 
who  still  keeps  a  firm  and  vigorous  grip  on  the 
business :  men  like  Richard  T.  Crane  of 
Chicago,  E.  C.  Simmons  of  St.  Louis,  and 
James  J.  Hill,  whose  careers  are  records  of 
intense  industry  and  absorbed  devotion  to  the 
work  in  hand. 

Many  persons  confuse  overwork  with  what  is 
really  underwork  accompanied  with  worry  or 
unhygienic  practices. 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     21 

A  recent  writer  on  sociology  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  nervous  prostrations  and 
general  breakdowns  are  most  common  among 
those  members  of  society  who  achieve  the 
least  and  who  may  be  regarded  as  parasites. 
Exercise  both  of  brain  and  of  muscle  is  neces- 
sary for  growth  and  for  health. 

Those  nations  which  expend  the  most  energy 
are  probably  the  ones  among  whom  longevity 
is  greatest  and  the  mortality  rate  the  lowest. 
In  the  city  of  Chicago  there  are  many  condi- 
tions adverse  to  health  of  body  and  mind,  yet 
the  city  is  famous  for  its  relatively  low  mor- 
tality as  a  parallel  fact.  It  is  also  affirmed 
that  the  average  Chicago  man  works  longer 
hours  and  actually  accomplishes  more  than 
the  average  man  elsewhere.  This  excess  in  the 
expenditure  of  energy  —  in  so  far  as  it  is 
wisely  spent  —  may  be  one  of  the  reasons  for 
the  excellent  health  record  of  the  city. 

In  every  walk  of  life  we  see  that  the  race 
is  not  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong. 
We  all  know  men  clearly  of  secondary  ability 
who  nevertheless  occupy  high  positions  in 


22     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

business  and  state.  We  are  acquainted  also 
with  men  of  excellent  native  endowment  who 
still  have  never  risen  above  the  ranks  of  medi- 
ocrity. 

Human  efficiency  is  not  measured  in  terms 
of  muscular  energy  nor  of  intellectual  grasp.  It 
is  dependent  upon  many  factors  other  than  native 
strength  of  mind  and  body. 

The  attitude  which  one  takes  toward  life 
in  general  and  toward  his  calling  in  particular 
is  of  more  importance  than  native  ability. 
The  man  with  concentration,  or  the  power  of 
continued  enthusiastic  application,  will  sur- 
pass a  brilliant  competitor  if  this  latter  is 
careless  and  indifferent  towards  his  work. 
Many  who  have  accomplished  great  things 
in  business,  in  the  professions,  and  in  science 
have  been  men  of  moderate  ability.  For 
testimony  of  this  fact  take  this  striking  quo- 
tation from  Charles  Darwin. 

"I  have  no  great  quickness  of  apprehension 
or  wit,  which  is  so  remarkable  in  some  clever 
men,"  he  writes.  "I  am  a  poor  critic.  .  .  . 
My  power  to  follow  a  long  and  purely  abstract 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     23 

train  of  thought  is  very  limited  ;  and  therefore 
I  never  could  have  succeeded  with  metaphysics 
or  mathematics.  My  memory  is  extensive, 
yet  hazy ;  it  suffices  to  make  me  cautious  by 
vaguely  telling  me  that  I  have  observed  or  read 
something  opposed  to  the  conclusion  which  I 
am  drawing,  or  on  the  other  hand  in  favor 
of  it.  So  poor  in  one  sense  is  my  memory, 
that  I  have  never  been  able  to  remember  for 
more  than  a  few  days  a  single  date  or  a  line 
of  poetry.  I  have  a  fair  share  of  invention, 
and  of  common  sense  or  judgment,  such  as 
every  fairly  successful  lawyer  or  doctor  must 
have,  but  not,  I  believe,  in  any  higher  de- 
gree." 

This  is  presumably  an  honest  statement 
of  fact,  and  in  addition  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  Darwin  was  always  physically 
weak,  that  for  forty  years  he  was  practically 
an  invalid  and  able  to  work  for  only  about 
three  hours  a  day.  In  these  few  hours  he 
was  able  to  accomplish  more,  however,  than 
other  men  of  apparently  superior  ability  who 
were  able  to  work  long  hours  daily  for  many 


24     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

years.  Darwin  made  the  most  of  his  ability 
and  increased  his  efficiency  to  its  maximum. 

For  a  parallel  in  business,  Cyrus  H.  McCor- 
mick  might  be  named.  The  inventor  of  the 
reaper  and  builder  of  the  first  American  busi- 
ness which  covered  the  world  was  not  a  man  of 
extraordinary  intellect,  wit,  or  judgment.  He 
had,  however,  the  will  and  power  to  focus  his 
attention  on  a  single  question  until  the  answer 
was  evolved.  Again  and  again,  his  biog- 
raphers tell  us,  he  pursued  problems  which 
eluded  him  far  into  the  night  and  he  was 
frequently  found  asleep  at  his  desk  the  morn- 
ing following.  When  roused,  instead  of  seek- 
ing rest,  he  addressed  his  task  again  and 
usually  overcame  his  obstacle  before  leav- 
ing it. 

All  these  considerations  point  to  one  con- 
clusion. It  is  quite  certain,  then,  that  most  of 
us  are  whiling  away  our  days  and  occupying  po- 
sitions far  below  our  possibilities.  A  corollary 
to  this  statement  is  Mr.  Taylor's  conclusion  that 
"few  of  our  best-organized  industries  have  at- 
tained the  maximum  output  of  first-class  men." 


Possibility  of  Increasing  Human  Efficiency     25 

Not  to  give  too  wide  application  to  his  dis- 
covery that  the  average  day's  work  is  only  half 
or  less  than  half  what  a  first-class  man  can  do, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  average  man 
could,  with  no  injury  to  his  health,  increase  his 
efficiency  fifty  per  cent. 

We  are  making  use  of  only  part  of  our  exist- 
ing mental  and  physical  powers  and  are  not 
taxing  them  beyond  their  strength.  Increased 
accomplishments,  and  heightened  efficiency 
would  cultivate  and  develop  them,  would 
waken  the  latent  powers  and  tap  hidden 
stores  of  energy  within  us,  would  widen  the 
fields  in  which  we  labor  and  would  open  up 
to  us  new  and  wider  horizons  of  honorable 
and  profitable  activity. 

In  succeeding  chapters  will  be  described 
specific  methods,  many  of  which  are  employed 
by  individual  firms,  but  which  could  be  utilized 
by  other  business  men,  to  insure  their  own  effi- 
ciency and  that  of  their  employees.  The  expe- 
riences of  many  successful  houses  will  be  linked 
to  the  laws  of  psychology  to  point  the  way  that 
will  bring  about  greater  results  from  men. 


CHAPTER  II 
IMITATION 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN 
EFFICIENCY 

TWENTY  years  ago  the  head  of  an  in- 
dustry now  in  the  million-a-month 
class  sat  listening  to  his  "star"  sales- 
man. The  latter,  in  the  first  enthusiasm  of 
discovery  and  creation,  was  telling  how  he  had 
developed  the  company's  haphazard  selling 
talk  and  had  taken  order  after  order  with  a 
standard  approach,  demonstration,  and  sum- 
mary of  closing  arguments.  To  prove  the 
effectiveness  of  "the  one  best  way,"  he  chal- 
lenged his  employer  to  act  as  a  customer, 
staged  the  little  drama  he  had  arranged,  se- 
cured admissions  of  savings  his  machine  would 
make,  ultimately  cornered  the  other,  and  sold 
him. 

"That's  great,"  the  owner  declared  the  in- 
26 


Imitation  27 

slant  he  had  surrendered  to  the  salesman's 
logic.  "If  we  can  get  all  our  agents  to  learn 
and  use  this  new  method  of  yours,  we'll  double 
our  business  in  three  years." 

Then  followed  discussion  of  the  means  by 
which  the  knowledge  could  be  spread. 

"I've  got  it,"  the  manager  announced  at 
last.  "I'll  telegraph  five  or  six  men  to  come 
in"  —  he  named  the  agents  within  a  night's 
ride  of  the  factory  —  "and  you  can  show 
them  how  you  sold  fifteen  machines  last  week. 

"We  could  take  down  your  talk  in  short- 
hand and  send  it  to  them,  but  that  wouldn't 
do  the  business.  I  want  them  to  watch  you 
sell,  to  study  how  you  make  your  points,  how 
you  introduce  yourself,  how  you  get  your 
man's  attention,  how  you  bring  out  his  ob- 
jections and  meet  them,  how  you  lead  up 
to  the  signing  minute,  and  show  him  where 
to  sign.  What  you  say  is  about  half  the  trick : 
how  you  say  it  is  the  convincing  part  —  the 
thing  the  slowest  man  in  the  force  by  watch- 
ing you  can  learn  more  quickly  than  the  smart- 
est could  work  out  at  home." 


28     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

The  result  of  that  conference  was  one  of 
the  earliest  organized  training  schools  for 
salesmen  in  the  country.  It  was  an  uncon- 
scious, but  none  the  less  certain,  utilization 
of  the  instinct  of  imitation  for  increasing  the 
efficiency  in  employees.  Since  then,  business 
has  borrowed  many  well-recognized  principles 
from  psychology  and  pedagogy  and  adapted 
them  to  the  same  end. 

Many  important  houses  have  grafted  the 
school  upon  their  organizations  and  teach 
not  only  raw  and  untrained  employees,  but 
provide  instruction  calculated  to  make  work- 
men and  clerks  masters  of  their  jobs  and  also 
to  fit  them  for  advancement  to  higher  and 
more  productive  planes.  Teaching  is  by  ex- 
ample rather  than  by  precept,  just  as  it  was 
in  the  old  apprentice  system. 

The  newer  method  uses  even  more  than  the 
older  a  perfect  example  of  the  process  and  the 
product  for  the  learner's  imitation  and  makes 
them  the  basis  of  the  instruction. 

No  man  was  made  to  live  alone.  For  an 
individual,  existence  entirely  independent  of 


Imitation  29 

other  members  of  the  race  is  the  conception 
of  a  dreamer;  apart  from  others  one  would 
fail  to  become  human.  Modern  psychology 
has  abandoned  the  individualistic  and  adopted 
the  social  point  of  view.  We  no  longer  think 
of  imitation  as  a  characteristic  only  of  animals, 
children,  and  weak-minded  folk. 

We  have  come  to  see  that  imitation  is  the 
greatest  factor  in  the  education  of  the  young  and 
a  continuous  process  with  all  of  us.  The  part 
of  wisdom,  then,  is  to  utilize  this  power  from 
which  we  cannot  escape,  by  setting  up  a  perfect 
copy  for  imitation. 

The  child  brought  up  by  a  Chinaman 
imitates  the  sounds  he  hears,  hence  speaks 
Chinese ;  brought  up  in  an  American  home, 
English  is  his  speech  —  ungrammatical  or 
correct  according  to  the  usage  of  his  com- 
panions. If  one  boy  in  a  group  walks  on 
stilts  or  plays  marbles,  the  others  follow  his 
example.  If  a  social  leader  rides  in  an  auto- 
mobile, wears  a  Panama  hat,  or  plays  golf, 
all  the  members  of  this  circle  are  restless  till 
they  have  the  same  experience.  The  same 


30     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

phenomenon  is  seen  in  the  professions  and  in 
business.  If  one  bank  decides  to  erect  a 
building  for  its  own  use,  other  banks  in  the 
city  begin  to  consult  architects.  If  one  manu- 
facturer or  distributor  in  a  given  field  adopts 
a  new  policy  in  manufacturing  or  in  extending 
his  trade  zone,  his  rivals  immediately  consider 
plans  of  a  similar  sort.  Partly,  of  course, 
this  act  is  defensive.  In  the  main,  however, 
imitation  and  emulation  are  at  the  bottom 
of  the  move. 

For  the  sake  of  clearness,  in  studying  acts 
of  imitation  we  separate  them  into  two 
classes  —  voluntary  imitation  (also  called  con- 
scious imitation)  and  instinctive  imitation  (also 
known  as  suggestive  imitation). 

A  peculiar  signature  may  strike  my  fancy 
so  that  consciously  and  deliberately  I  may 
try  to  imitate  it.  This  is  a  clear  case  of  vol- 
untary imitation.  Threading  crowded  city 
streets,  I  see  a  man  crossing  at  a  particular 
point  and  voluntarily  follow  in  his  path.  In 
learning  a  new  skating  figure  I  watch  an  ex- 
pert attentively  and  try  to  repeat  his  perform- 


Imitation  3 1 

ance.  In  writing  letters  or  advertisements 
or  magazine  articles,  I  analyze  the  work 
of  other  men  and  consciously  imitate  what 
seems  best.  Or  I  observe  a  fellow-laborer 
working  faster  than  I,  and  forthwith  try  to 
catch  and  hold  his  pace. 

The  contagion  of  yawning,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  instinctive  imitation.  Also  when  in 
a  crowd  during  the  homeward  evening  rush, 
we  instinctively  quicken  our  pace  though  there 
may  be  no  reason  for  hurry. 

For  precisely  similar  reasons,  a  "loafer" 
or  a  careless  or  inefficient  workman  will  lower 
the  efficiency  or  slow  up  the  production  of 
the  men  about  him,  no  matter  how  earnest 
or  industrious  their  natural  habits.  Night 
work  by  clerks,  also,  is  taken  by  some  office 
managers  to  indicate  a  slump  in  industry  dur- 
ing the  day.  To  correct  this  the  individuals 
who  are  drags  on  the  organization  are  dis- 
covered, and  either  are  revitalized  or  dis- 
charged. 

I  have  seen  more  than  one  machine  shop  where 
production  could  have  been  materially  raised 


32     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

by  the  simple  expedient  of  weeding  out  the  work- 
men who  were  satisfied  with  a  mere  living  wage 
earned  by  piecework,  thereby  setting  a  dilatory 
example  to  the  rest;  and  replacing  them  with 
fresh  men  ambitious  to  earn  all  they  could,  who 
would  have  been  imitated  by  the  others. 

In  these  instances  it  is  assumed  that  the 
imitation  is  not  voluntary,  but  that  we  un- 
consciously imitate  whatever  actions  happen 
to  catch  our  attention.  For  the  negative 
action,  the  "slowing  down"  process,  we  have 
the  greater  affinity  simply  because  labor  or 
exertion  is  naturally  distasteful.  One  such 
influence  or  example,  therefore,  may  sway  us 
more  than  a  dozen  positive  impulses  towards 
industry. 

Imitation  thus  broadly  considered  is  seen 
to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  in  every  walk 
of  life.  The  greatest  and  most  original  genius 
is  in  the  main  a  creature  of  imitation.  By 
imitation  he  reaches  the  level  of  knowledge 
and  skill  attained  by  others ;  and  upon  this 
foundation  builds  his  structure  of  original  and 
creative  thought,  experiment,  and  achieve- 


Imitation  33 

ment.  Furthermore  he  does  not  imitate  at 
random;  but  concentrates  his  activity  on 
those  things  and  persons  in  the  line  of  his  pur- 
suits. 

Among  my  associates  are  both  industrious 
and  shiftless  individuals.  I  instinctively  imi- 
tate the  actions  of  all  those  with  whom  I  come 
in  contact ;  but  if  I  am  sufficiently  ambitious, 
I  will  consciously  imitate  the  acts  of  the  indus- 
trious. This  patterning  after  energetic  models 
will  render  me  more  active  and  efficient  than 
would  have  been  possible  for  me  without  such 
examples. 

Imitation,  accordingly,  is  an  imperative  factor 
both  in  self -development  and  in  the  control  of 
groups  of  individuals.  Knowing  that  I  in- 
stinctively imitate  all  sorts  of  acts,  I  must  take 
care  that  only  the  right  sort  shall  catch  my  atten- 
tion. 

And  since  imitation  is  a  most  effective  aid 
in  development,  I  must  provide  myself  with 
the  best  models.  To  reduce  my  tendency  to 
idleness  or  procrastination  I  must  avoid  the 
companionship  of  the  shiftless.  To  acquire 


34     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

ease  and  accuracy  in  the  use  of  French,  I  must 
consort  with  masters  of  that  tongue. 

In  handling  others,  the  same  rule  holds. 

To  profit  from  the  instinctive  imitation  of 
my  men,  I  must  control  their  environment  in 
shop  or  office  and  make  sure  that  examples  of 
energy  and  efficiency  are  numerous  enough 
to  catch  their  attention  and  establish,  as  it  were, 
an  atmosphere  of  industry  in  the  place. 

There  are  instances  in  which  it  would  be 
to  the  mutual  interest  of  employer  and  em- 
ployee to  increase  the  speed  of  work,  but  con- 
ditions may  limit  or  forbid  the  use  of  pace- 
makers. In  construction  work  and  in  some 
of  the  industries  where  there  are  minute  sub- 
division of  operations  and  continuity  of  pro- 
cesses this  method  of  increasing  efficiency  is 
very  commonly  applied.  In  many  factories, 
however,  such  an  effort  to  "speed  up"  pro- 
duction might  stir  resentment,'even  among  the 
pieceworkers,  and  have  an  effect  exactly  op- 
posite to  that  desired.  The  alternative,  of 
course,  is  for  the  employer  to  secure  uncon- 
scious pacemakers  by  providing  incentives 


Imitation  35 

for  the  naturally  ambitious  men  in  the  way  of 
a  premium  or  bonus  system  or  other  reward 
for  unusual  efficiency. 

To  take  advantage  of  their  conscious  or 
voluntary  imitation,  workpeople  must  be 
provided  with  examples  which  appeal  to  them 
as  admirable  and  inspire  the  wish  to  emulate 
them.  A  common  application  of  this  principle 
is  seen  in  the  choice  of  department  heads, 
foremen,  and  other  bosses.  Invariably  these 
win  promotion  by  industry,  skill,  and  efficiency 
greater  than  that  displayed  by  their  fellows, 
or  by  all-round  mastery  of  their  trades  which 
enable  them  to  show  their  less  efficient  mates 
how  any  and  all  operations  should  be  conducted. 

This  focusing  of  attention  upon  individuals 
worthy  of  imitation  has  been  carried  much 
farther  by  various  companies.  Through  their 
"house  organs"  —  weekly  or  monthly  papers 
published  primarily  for  circulation  within  the 
organization  —  they  make  record  of  every 
incident  reflecting  unusual  skill,  initiative,  or 
personal  power  in  an  individual  member  of 
the  organization. 


36     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

A  big  order  closed,  a  difficult  contract 
secured,  a  complex  or  delicate  operation  per- 
formed in  less  than  the  usual  time,  a  new  per- 
sonal record  in  production,  the  invention  of 
an  unproved  method  or  machine  —  whatever 
the  achievement,  it  is  described  and  glorified, 
its  author  praised  and  held  up  for  emulation. 
This,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  methods  by  which 
the  larger  sales  organizations  have  obtained 
remarkable  results. 

Graphically  told,  the  story  of  an  important 
sale  with  the  salesman's  picture  alongside  makes 
double  use  of  the  instinct  of  imitation.  It 
suggests  forcibly  that  every  man  in  the  field  can 
duplicate  the  achievement  and  tells  how  he  can 
do  it. 

Frequently,  examples  of  initiative  and  effi- 
ciency are  borrowed  from  outside  organiza- 
tions. "Carrying  a  message  to  Garcia"  has 
long  been  a  business  synonym  for  immediate 
and  effective  execution  of  orders.  One  big 
company,  employing  thousands  of  mechanics 
and  developing  all  its  executives  and  skilled 
experts  from  boys  and  men  within  the  or- 


Imitation  37 

ganization,  has  printed  in  its  house  organ 
studies  of  all  the  great  American  and  English 
inventors  from  Stephenson  and  Fulton  to 
Edison  and  Westinghouse.  These  histories 
emphasize  the  facts  that  these  men  were  self- 
taught  and  bench-trained,  and  that  their 
achievements  can  be  imitated  by  every  in- 
telligent mechanic  in  the  organization. 

In  teaching  and  learning  by  imitation  certain 
modify  ing  facts  are  to  be  kept  constantly  in  mind. 
We  tend  to  imitate  everything  which  catches  our 
attention,  but  certain  things  appeal  more  power- 
fully than  others. 

The  acts  of  those  whom  I  admire  are  par- 
ticularly contagious,  but  I  remain  indifferent 
to  the  acts  of  those  who  are  uninteresting. 
Acts  showing  a  skill  to  which  I  aspire  are  im- 
mediately imitated,  while  acts  representing 
stages  of  development  from  which  I  have  es- 
caped are  less  likely  to  be  imitated.  We  imi- 
tate the  acts  of  hearty,  jovial  individuals  more 
than  the  acts  of  others.  This  point  cannot 
be  pressed  too  far  since  a  surly  and  selfish 
individual  often  seems  to  corrupt  a  whole 


38     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

group.  Also  it  is  not  always  the  acts  which 
I  admire  that  are  imitated.  If  I  am  fre- 
quently with  a  lame  person,  I  am  in  danger 
of  acquiring  a  limp ;  one  who  stutters  is 
clearly  injurious  to  my  freedom  of  speech ; 
round-shouldered  friends  may  at  first  cause 
me  to  straighten  up,  but  soon  I  am  in  danger 
of  a  droop. 

That  imitation  is  merely  something  to  be 
avoided  by  teachers,  employers,  and  foremen 
is  an  idea  soon  banished  when  the  importance 
and  complexity  of  the  process  is  compre- 
hended. In  teaching  we  find  precept  in- 
ferior to  example  wherever  the  latter  is  pos- 
sible. Particularly  in  teaching  all  sorts  of 
acts  of  skill  the  imitation  of  perfect  models 
is  the  first  resort.  In  business,  however,  in- 
sufficient consideration  has  been  given  to  the 
possibilities  of  imitation  in  increasing  human 
efficiency. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  article  representa- 
tive business  men  who  had  been  especially  suc- 
cessful in  dealing  with  employees  were  asked 
the  following  questions :  — 


Imitation  39 

In  increasing  the  efficiency  of  your  em- 
ployees do  you  utilize  imitation  by 

(1)  placing  efficient  workmen  where  they 
may  be  imitated  by  the  less  efficient  ? 

(2)  having  the  men  visit  highly  efficient 
establishments  ? 

(3)  bringing  to  the  attention  of  your  men 
the  lives  of  successful  men  and  the  work  of 
successful  houses  ? 

(4)  bringing  frequently  to  the  attention  of 
the  men  model  methods  of  work  ? 

(5)  Have   you   observed    any   pronounced 
instance  of  increase  or  decrease  in  the  work 
of  a  department  due  to  imitation  ? 

The  men  interviewed  took  a  decided  in- 
terest in  the  subject,  and  their  answers 
contained  much  of  general  value.  Some  ad- 
mitted that  they  had  never  made  any  con- 
scious effort  to  utilize  imitation  as  implied 
in  the  first  four  questions.  Many  others 
had  made  particular  use  of  one  or  more  of 
the  methods.  A  few  of  the  firms  interviewed 
had  employed  all  four  methods  with  entire 
satisfaction. 


40     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

The  following  is  a  fair  representative  of 
the  answers.  It  is  the  response  of  a  very 
successful  general  manager  of  a  railroad  : — , 

"I  beg  to  give  you  below  the  answer  to 
the  questions  which  you  have  asked  : — 

"i.  The  superintendent  and  foremen  in 
our  shops  are  the  most  efficient  we  can  find. 
They  are  imitated,  and  thus  influence  the  less 
efficient. 

"2.  We  have  the  heads  of  our  departments 
visit  other  shops  to  see  how  they  are  progress- 
ing in  the  same  line.  If  they  notice  anything 
that  is  better  than  what  we  have  as  to  the 
output  of  work,  we  imitate  it  by  following 
their  methods. 

"3.  We  have  not  made  a  practice  of  bring- 
ing to  the  attention  of  our  employees  the  lives 
of  successful  men  or  the  work  of  successful 
houses. 

"4.  We  keep  standard  models  of  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  work  in  plain  view  of  the  men.  If 
there  is  any  doubt  in  their  minds,  they  can 
study  these  models. 

"5.  We  have  observed   a   pronounced   in- 


Imitation  41 

crease  in  the  work  of  our  shops,  due  to  imi- 
tation, since  in  lining  up  our  organization  we 
put  the  most  competent  men  we  have  at  the 
head.  Their  influence  over  the  men  in  their 
charge  increases  the  work,  as  there  is  no 
question  that  a  good  leader  is  imitated  by 
the  men,  and  the  company  is  benefited  by 
this  imitation." 

Judged  by  the  results  of  the  investigation  the 
most  common  use  of  imitation  is  in  the  training 
or  "breaking  in"  of  new  employees.  The 
accepted  plan  is  to  pick  out  the  most  expert  and 
intelligent  workman  available  and  put  the  new 
man  in  his  charge. 

By  observing  the  veteran  and  imitating  his 
actions,  working  gradually  from  the  simpler 
operations  to  the  more  complex,  the  beginner 
is  able  to  master  technic  and  methods  in  the 
shortest  possible  time.  The  psychological 
moment  for  such  instruction,  of  course,  is  the 
first  day  or  the  first  week.  New  men  learn 
much  more  readily  than  those  who  have  be- 
come habituated  to  certain  methods  or  tasks ; 
not  having  had  time  or  opportunity  to  experi- 


42     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

ment  and  learn  wrong  methods,  they  have 
nothing  to  unlearn  in  acquiring  the  right. 
They  fall  into  line  at  once  and  adopt  the  stride 
and  the  manner  of  work  approved  by  the 
house. 

This  is  the  specific  process  by  which  the 
most  advanced  industrial  organizations  de- 
velop machine  hands  and  initiate  skilled  me- 
chanics into  house  methods  and  requirements. 
It  has  been  largely  used  by  public  service 
corporations  —  street-car  motormen  and  con- 
ductors, for  instance,  learning  their  duties 
almost  entirely  by  observation  of  experienced 
men  either  in  formal  schools  or  on  cars  in 
actual  operation.  Many  large  commercial 
houses  give  new  employees  regular  courses  in 
company  methods  before  intrusting  work  to 
them ;  the  instructor  is  some  highly  efficient 
specialist,  who  shows  the  beginner  how  to  get 
output  and  quality  with  the  least  expenditure 
of  time  and  energy.  The  same  method  has 
been  adapted  by  leading  manufacturers  of 
machines,  who  call  their  mechanics  or  assem- 
blers together  at  intervals  and  have  the  most 


Imitation  43 

expert  among  them  show  how  they  conduct 
operations  in  which  they  have  attained  special 
skill. 

In  the  training  of  salesmen  imitation  has 
received  its  widest  application  in  teaching  new 
men  the  elements  of  salesmanship;  in  showing 
them  how  to  make  the  individual  sale ;  in  giving 
old  men  the  best  and  newest  methods  —  all  by 
imitation. 

Not  only  is  the  recruit  to  the  selling  ranks 
in  formal  schools  given  repeated  examples  of 
the  most  effective  ways  to  approach  customers, 
to  demonstrate  the  house  goods  and  secure  the 
order;  but  the  more  progressive  companies, 
after  this  preliminary  instruction,  assign  him 
to  a  training  ground  where  he  accompanies 
one  of  the  company's  best  salesmen  and 
merely  observes  how  actual  sales  are  made. 
Then  the  new  man  is  sent  out  alone ;  usually 
he  fails  to  secure  as  large  an  order  as  the 
house  wants.  Again  the  star  salesman  takes 
him  in  hand,  analyzes  the  student's  approach 
and  demonstration,  points  out  their  weak- 
nesses and,  going  back  with  the  new  man, 


44     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

makes  the  right  kind  of  approach  and  secures 
a  satisfactory  order.  For  the  beginner  this  is 
the  most  vivid  lesson  in  salesmanship ;  he 
cannot  but  model  his  next  selling  effort  on  the 
lines  proved  so  effective. 

The  use  of  imitation,  however,  is  carried 
further.  In  the  monthly  or  semiannual  dis- 
trict conventions  of  salesmen  which  most  big 
organizations  call,  the  newest  and  most  effec- 
tive selling  methods  are  staged  for  the  in- 
struction both  of  new  men  and  veterans. 
The  district  leader  in  sales,  for  example,  or 
the  man  who  has  closed  an  order  by  a  new  or 
unusual  argument  is  pitted  against  a  sales- 
man equally  able,  and  the  whole  force  sees 
how  the  successful  man  secured  his  results. 

Educational  trips  to  other  factories  were 
employed  by  several  firms  to  stimulate  mental 
alertness  and  the  instinct  of  imitation  in  their 
men.  These  trips  usually  supplemented  some 
sort  of  suggestion  system  for  encouraging  em- 
ployees to  submit  to  the  management  ideas  for 
improving  methods,  machines,  or  products. 

Cash  payments  were  made  for  each  suggestion 


Imitation  45 

adopted,  quarterly  prizes  of  ten  to  fifty  dol- 
lars were  awarded  for  the  most  valuable  sug- 
gestions ;  and  finally  a  dozen  or  a  score  of  the 
men  submitting  the  best  ideas  were  sent  on  a 
week's  tour  of  observation  to  other  industrial 
centers  and  notable  plants.  In  some  instances 
the  expense  incurred  was  considerable,  but  the 
companies  considered  the  money  well  spent. 
Not  only  were  the  men  making  helpful  sug- 
gestions the  very  ones  who  would  observe 
most  wisely  and  profit  most  extensively  from 
such  educational  trips,  but  they  would  bring 
back  to  their  everyday  tasks  a  new  perspec- 
tive, see  them  from  a  new  angle,  and  fre- 
quently offer  new  suggestions  which  would 
more  than  save  or  earn  the  vacation  cost. 

Business  managers,  it  was  made  plain,  are 
coming  more  and  more  to  depend  upon  imita- 
tion as  one  of  the  great  forces  in  securing 
a  maximum  of  efficiency  without  risking  the 
rupture  or  rebellion  which  might  follow  if  the 
same  efficiency  were  sought  by  force  or  by 
any  method  of  conscious  compulsion.  Tact- 
fully suggested,  the  examples  for  imitation  will 


46     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in   Business 

lead  men  where  no  amount  of  argument  or 
reasonable  compensation  will  drive  them.  I 
am  therefore  led  to  suggest  the  following  uses 
of  imitation  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the 
working  force. 

In  breaking  in  new  recruits  they  should 
be  set  to  imitate  expert  workmen  in  all  the 
details  possible. 

Gang  foremen  and  superintendents  should 
always  be  capable  of  "showing  how"  for  the 
sake  of  the  men  under  them. 

The  better  workmen  should,  where  pos- 
sible, be  located  so  that  they  will  be  observed 
by  the  other  employees. 

Inefficient  help  should  be  avoided  since  the 
example  of  the  less  efficient  should  become  the 
model  for  the  larger  group. 

Educational  trips  or  tours  of  inspection 
should  be  regularly  encouraged  for  both 
workmen  and  superintendents. 

The  deeds  of  successful  houses  should  be 
brought  to  the  attention  of  employees. 

Where  conditions  admit,  pacemakers  should 
be  retained  in  various  groups  to  key  up  the 
other  men. 


Imitation  47 

Favorable  conditions  should  be  provided 
for  conscious  and  instinctive  imitation  for  all 
the  members  of  the  plant. 

Persons  who  are  sociable  and  much  liked 
are  imitated  more  than  others,  and  if  efficient, 
are  particularly  valuable ;  but  if  inefficient, 
are  especially  detrimental  to  others. 

At  the  formal  and  informal  meetings  of  the 
men  of  a  house  or  a  department,  demonstra- 
tions of  how  to  do  certain  definite  things  are 
very  interesting  and  helpful  to  all  concerned. 
Demonstrations  should  be  more  common. 


CHAPTER  III 
COMPETITION 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN 
EFFICIENCY 

THIRTY  years  ago  American  steel 
makers  were  astonishing  the  world 
with  new  production  records.  What 
English  ironmasters,  intrenched  in  their  su- 
premacy for  centuries,  had  regarded  as  a 
standard  week's  output  for  Bessemer  con- 
verters, their  young  rivals  in  mills  about  the 
Great  Lakes  were  doubling,  trebling,  and  even 
further  increasing.  Hardly  a  month  passed 
without  a  new  high  mark  and  a  shift  in  pos- 
session of  the  leadership. 

To  this  remarkable  increase  in  efficiency 
William  R.  Jones  —  "Captain  Bill"  Jones  as 
he  was  familiarly  known  —  contributed  more 
than  any  other  operating  man.  He  was  a 
genius  among  executives  as  well  as  an  inventor 

48 


Competition  49 

of  resource  and  initiative  —  a  natural  leader 
and  handler  of  men.  When  he  was  asked  by 
the  British  Iron  and  Steel  Institute  in  i88ij 
to  explain  the  reasons  for  the  amazing  develop- 
ment in  the  United  States,  he  attributed  it  to 
organization  spirit  of  the  workmen  and  the 
rivalry  among  the  various  mills. 

"So  long  as  the  record  made  by  a  mill 
stands  first,"  he  wrote,  "its  workmen  are 
content  to  labor  at  a  moderate  rate.  But  let 
it  be  known  that  some  other  establishment 
has  beaten  that  record  and  there  is  no  content 
until  the  rival's  record  is  eclipsed." 

It  was  on  this  idea  of  competition  for  effi- 
ciency —  of  production  as  a  game  and  achieve- 
ment as  a  goal  —  that  the  wonderful  growth  of 
the  steel  industry  was  based. 

On  the  intensive  development  of  this  idea 
by  Andrew  Carnegie,  within  his  expanding 
organization,  hinged  the  tremendous  progress 
and  profits  of  the  Carnegie  Company.  "The 
little  boss"  matched  furnace  against  furnace, 
mill  against  mill,  superintendent  against  super- 
intendent. He  scanned  his  weekly  and 


50     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

monthly  reports  not  merely  for  records  of 
output,  but  for  comparative  consumption  of 
ore,  fuel,  and  other  supplies,  for  time  and  labor 
costs  in  proportion  to  product. 

If  a  superintendent,  foreman,  or  gang  failed 
to  respond  to  this  urging,  failed  to  get  into 
the  race  for  the  famous  broom  which  crowned 
the  stack  of  the  champion  Carnegie  mill  or 
furnace,  the  parallel  showing  of  the  other  mills 
became  a  club  to  drive  the  laggards  into  line. 
So  intense  was  the  competition,  so  sharp  the 
verbal  goads  applied  that  Jones,  after  re- 
signing in  indignation,  parodied  in  sarcastic 
notes  in  this  manner  the  Carnegie  fashion  of 
bringing  executives  to  task  :  "Puppy  dog 
number  three,  you  have  been  beaten  by  puppy 
dog  number  two  on  fuel.  Puppy  dog  num- 
ber two,  you  are  higher  on  labor  than  puppy 
dog  number  one." 

How  effective  was  this  system  of  pitting 
man  against  man,  plant  against  plant,  was 
shown  by  the  dominant  position  of  the  Car- 
negie Company  in  the  trade  when  the  Steel 
Corporation  was  launched  and  by  the  stag- 


Competition  51 

gering  value  put  upon  its  business.  Indirect 
testimony  of  the  same  fact  was  given  another 
time  by  Jones  when  he  refused  thousands  of 
dollars  in  yearly  royalties  for  the  use  of  his 
inventions  by  outside  companies,  this  though 
the  men  who  sought  them  were  personal  friends 
and  his  contract  with  the  Carnegie  Company 
allowed  such  licenses.  His  excuse  was  elo- 
quent of  the  power  residing  in  the  Carnegie 
contest  for  efficiency  and  results  :  leadership 
for  his  charge,  the  Edgar  Thompson  works,  in 
output  and  costs,  meant  more  to  him  than 
money  and  a  chance  to  help  his  friends. 

The  Carnegie  system  was  one  of  the  most 
comprehensive  applications  in  business  of  man's 
instinct  of  competition  to  the  work  of  increasing 
individual  and  organization  efficiency. 

In  the  handling  of  executives  it  was  carried 
to  such  extremes  as  few  great  managers  would 
approve  to-day.  Undeniably,  however,  the 
contest  idea  was  an  important  influence  in  the 
building  up  of  a  vast  business  in  relatively  brief 
time,  while  the  influence  on  the  pace  of  the 
whole  industry  gave  the  United  States  its 


52     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

present  supremacy  in  steel  and  iron.  It  sur- 
vives in  the  parallel  comparisons  of  records 
with  which  the  Steel  Corporation  measures 
the  efficiency  of  its  units  of  production  and 
keeps  its  mill  superintendents  to  the  mark. 
It  is  utilized,  in  some  degree  and  in  varying 
departments,  by  hundreds  of  successful  houses. 

Let  us  analyze  the  facts,  the  habits  of 
thought,  the  emotions  behind  competition  and 
determine  where  and  how  it  may  be  applied 
to  the  task  of  increasing  our  own  and  our 
employees'  efficiency. 

The  experienced  horseman  knows  that  a 
horse  is  unable  to  attain  his  greatest  speed 
apart  from  a  pacemaker.  The  horse  needs  the 
stimulus  of  an  equal  to  get  under  way  quickly, 
to  strike  his  fastest  gait  and  to  keep  it  up. 
In  this  particular  an  athlete  in  sprinting  is  like 
the  horse.  He  is  unable  by  sheer  force  of  will 
to  run  a  hundred  yards  in  ten  seconds.  To 
achieve  it  he  needs  a  competitor  who  will  push 
him  to  his  utmost  effort. 

The  struggle  for  existence,  one  of  the  main 
factors  in  the  evolution  of  man,  has  raged  most 


Competition  53 

fiercely  among  equals ;  without  it,  development 
scarcely  would  have  been  possible. 

So  fundamental  has  been  this  struggle 
that  the  necessity  for  it  has  become  firmly 
established  within  us.  We  require  it  to  stimu- 
late us  to  attain  our  highest  ends. 

As  is  made  evident  by  a  consideration  of 
imitation  we  are  eminently  social  creatures. 
We  imitate  the  acts  of  those  about  us.  Imi- 
tation is,  however,  only  the  first  stage  of  our 
social  relationship.  We  first  imitate  and  then 
compete.  I  purchase  an  automobile  in  imi- 
tation of  the  acts  of  my  friends,  but  I  compete 
with  them  by  securing  a  more  powerful  or 
swifter  car.  By  erecting  a  new  building  be- 
cause some  other  banker  has  done  so,  the 
second  individual  does  more  than  imitate. 
He  competes  with  the  first  by  planning  to 
erect  a  more  magnificent  structure  and  on  a 
more  commanding  site.  Or  a  great  retail 
store,  announcing  a  "February  sale"  of  "white 
goods"  or  furniture,  invariably  tries  to  sur- 
pass the  bargains  offered  by  rival  establish- 
ments. 


54     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

We  do  indeed  imitate  and  compete  with  all 
our  associates,  but  those  whom  we  recog- 
nize as  our  peers  are  the  ones  who  stimulate 
us  more  to  the  instinctive  acts  of  imitation  and 
competition. 

Our  actual  equals  stimulate  us  less  than  those 
whom  we  recognize  as  the  peers  of  our  ideal 
selves  —  of  ourselves  as  we  strive  and  intend  to 
become.  The  man  on  the  ladder  just  above  me 
stirs  me  irresistibly. 

The  effect  of  one  individual  upon  others, 
then,  is  not  confined  to  imitation.  There  is 
a  constant  tendency  to  vary  from  and  to  excel 
the  model.  My  devotion  to  golf  is  mainly  due 
to  the  example  of  some  of  my  friends.  My 
ambition  is  to  outplay  these  same  friends. 
Imitation  and  competition,  apparently  an- 
tagonistic, are  in  reality  the  two  expressions 
for  our  social  relationships.  We  first  imitate 
and  then  attempt  to  differentiate  ourselves 
from  our  companions. 

The  manufacturer  or  merchant  imitates  his 
competitor,  but  tries  also  to  surpass  him. 
Indeed  it  is  a  truism  that  competition  is  the 


Competition  55 

life  of  trade.  In  the  shop  and  in  the  office, 
on  the  road  and  behind  the  counter,  in  all 
buying  and  selling,  competition  is  essential 
to  the  greatest  success.  Competition,  the 
desire  to  excel,  is  universal  and  instinctive. 
It  gives  a  zest  to  our  work  that  would  other- 
wise be  lacking.  In  every  sphere  of  human 
activity  competition  seems  essential  for  secur- 
ing the  best  results. 

We  assume  ordinarily  that  competition  exists 
only  between  individuals.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
a  slight  degree  of  competition  may  be  aroused 
between  a  man's  present  efforts  and  his  previous 
records. 

While  not  so  tense  or  so  compelling  as  is 
competition  between  individuals,  it  has  the 
advantage  of  avoiding  the  creation  of  jeal- 
ousies. In  all  the  more  exciting  and  stimu- 
lating games,  rivalry  between  individuals  is  a 
prominent  feature.  In  golf  the  game  is  fre- 
quently played  without  this  factor,  the  only 
competition  being  with  previous  records  or 
with  the  mythical  Bogy. 

Such    competition    adds    considerable   zest 


56     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  the  game,  and  the  same  principle  is  appli- 
cable to  business.  The  most  compelling  ri- 
valry is  between  peers  ;  without  this,  however, 
it  is  possible  to  pit  the  possibilities  of  the 
present  month  against  the  achievements  of 
the  previous  four  weeks  or  the  past  year  or 
even  against  a  hypothetical  individual  "bogy." 
This  bogy  may  be  fixed  by  the  executive,  and 
the  man  induced  to  compete  with  it.  Thus 
the  dangers  of  competition  may  be  minimized 
and  the  advantages  of  the  human  instinctive 
desire  for  competition  be  gained. 

In  the  average  well-organized  business  the 
carrying  out  of  such  a  plan  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult. Studying  the  previous  records  of  his 
men,  a  manager  or  foreman  could  determine 
what  each  individual  bogy  should  be.  The 
employee  should  know  just  what  the  record 
is  that  he  is  competing  with,  and  that  his 
success  or  failure  would  be  recorded  to  his 
credit  or  otherwise.  Above  all,  the  bogy 
must  be  fair  and  within  the  power  of  the  man 
to  accomplish. 

Competition  need  not  be  confined  to  individuals. 


Competition  57 

Frequently  one  city  finds  a  stimulus  in  competing 
with  another.  Nations  compete  with  one  another. 
In  any  organization  one  section  may  compete 
with  another. 

In  an  army  there  may  be  competition  be- 
tween regiments.  Within  the  regiment  there 
may  be  the  keenest  rivalry  between  the  differ- 
ent companies.  We  are  such  social  creatures 
that  we  easily  identify  ourselves  with  our 
block,  our  street,  our  town,  our  social  set,  our 
party,  our  firm,  or  our  department  in  the  firm. 
Like  teams  in  any  game  or  sport,  these  groups 
may  be  rendered  self-conscious  and  thus  made 
units  for  competition. 

It  is  possible  to  create  such  units  for  com- 
petition in  business  organizations.  In  some 
instances  individual  employees  of  one  firm 
are  pitted  against  those  of  a  competing  firm, 
the  contest  proving  stimulating  to  the  men  in 
both.  In  other  instances  the  competition  is 
restricted  to  the  house,  and  similar  depart- 
ments or  sections  are  the  units. 

The  closer  the  parallel  between  the  units 
and  their  activities,  as  in  the  Carnegie  blast 


58     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

furnaces  and  steel  mills,  the  more  interesting 
and  effective  the  competition  becomes. 

This  principle  has  received  widest  recog- 
nition and  achieved  greatest  success  in  the 
sales  department.  Here  individuals  are  on 
a  footing  of  approximate  equality  or  may  be 
given  equality  by  a  system  of  handicaps  based 
on  conditions  in  their  territories.  Success 
has  also  attended  the  pitting  of  selling  dis- 
tricts against  each  other.  These  larger  com- 
peting units  work  against  bogies  of  the  same 
character  as  do  the  individual  ones.  The  whole 
house  may  be  keyed  up  to  surpass  previous 
records  or  to  attain  some  fixed  standard. 

To  ascertain  to  what  extent  the  principle 
of  competition  was  consciously  employed  by 
business  firms  and  what  methods  were  used 
to  apply  it  in  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the 
men,  a  number  of  successful  business  firms 
were  asked  the  following  questions  :  — 

How  do  you  utilize  competition  in  increas- 
ing efficiency  among  your  employees? 

(i)  Do  you  regard  it  as  unwise  to  stimu- 
late competition  in  any  form  ? 


Competition  59 

(2)  Do  you  encourage  men  to  excel  their 
own  records  of  previous  years  ? 

(3)  Do  you  encourage  competition  between 
men  in  the  same  department  ? 

(4)  Do  you  encourage  competition  between 
your  own  departments  ? 

(5)  Do    you    encourage    competition    with 
departments  of  competing  establishments  ? 

(6)  In   competition   do   you   make   it   fair 
by  "handicapping"  your  men  ? 

What  reward  does  the  winner  receive,  e.g. :  — 

(1)  Monetary  reward  ? 

(2)  Promotion  ? 

(3)  Public  commendation  ? 

In  answers  by  equally  successful  managers 
great  diversity  of  opinion  prevailed.  Some 
men  were  afraid  of  all  forms  of  competition. 

They  believed  that  cooperation  was  essen- 
tial to  success  and  that  any  form  of  competi- 
tion among  the  men  tended  to  lessen  such 
cooperation.  Most  of  the  men  interviewed 
believed  that  competition  when  wisely  han- 
dled is  very  effective  in  stimulating  the  men. 

Of  course,  most  firms  try  in  some  way  to 


60     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

encourage  their  men  to  excel  their  record  of 
previous  years.  The  inquiry  developed,  how- 
ever, that  a  few  are  unwilling  to  employ  com- 
petition even  in  this  mild  form  as  a  means  to 
increased  efficiency.  Most  of  the  firms  made 
conscious  use  of  this  principle  and  were  con- 
vinced of  its  potency. 

Competition  between  men  in  the  same  de- 
partment was  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
firms,  and  its  adaptability  to  the  selling  de- 
partment was  especially  emphasized.  But 
some  of  the  best  houses  will  permit  no  such 
competition.  The  diversity  in  opinion  was 
very  pronounced  in  answering  this  question. 

As  to  encouraging  competition  between  de- 
partments in  the  same  firm,  no  general  answer 
is  satisfactory.  Organizations  differ  widely. 
In  many  houses  such  competition  is  not  prac- 
ticable ;  in  others  it  certainly  is  not  to  be  en- 
couraged. In  many  organizations  which  would 
admit  of  such  competition  the  experiment  had 
not  been  tried.  In  others  it  has  become  a 
regular  practice  and  is  looked  upon  with  favor. 

In   competition   between   members   of  the 


Competition  61 

same  department  or  between  departments  the 
danger  of  jealousy  and  enmity  seems  to  be  so 
real  that  the  greatest  caution  has  to  be 
observed  in  managing  the  contests.  When 
such  caution  is  exercised,  the  results  are 
ordinarily  reported  upon  favorably. 

As  to  encouraging  competition  with  de- 
partments of  rival  establishments,  the  diver- 
sity of  business  makes  general  statements  un- 
illuminating.  Even  where  such  a  course  is 
possible,  some  managers  reject  the  practice 
as  unwise.  They  believe  that  it  is  not  best 
to  recognize  other  houses  or  to  consider  them 
in  this  particular.  A  few  firms  report  that 
they  are  able  to  stimulate  their  men  success- 
fully in  this  way,  even  though  the  conditions  for 
such  a  contest  are  difficult  to  handle.  Of  those 
who  utilize  competition  a  few  houses  employ 
no  handicaps  to  put  their  men  on  the  same 
level  and  make  success  equally  possible  to  all. 

The  principle  of  handicaps  is  so  manifestly 
fair  that  organizers  of  contests  can  hardly  afford 
to  neglect  this  essential  to  the  widest  interest  and 
participation  in  the  competition. 


62     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

If  the  little  man  in  a  country  territory 
doesn't  feel  that  he  has  a  fighting  chance  to 
equal  or  surpass  the  man  in  the  big  agency, 
he  makes  no  attempt  to  qualify.  And  the 
purpose  of  every  contest,  of  course,  is  to  get 
every  man  into  the  game. 

Touching  monetary  rewards  for  the  win- 
ners, there  is  practical  unanimity  of  opinion. 
The  winner  should  receive  a  prize  in  cash  or 
its  equivalent.  Usually  the  effort  is  to  dis- 
tribute the  prizes  so  that  all  who  excel  their 
average  records  receive  compensation  and 
recognition  for  the  additional  work.  In  many 
instances  unusual  increases  in  sales  or  output 
are  rewarded  by  a  higher  rate  of  compensa- 
tion. 

That  success  in  contests  should  influence 
•promotion  was  generally  agreed.  The  knowledge 
and  energy  shown  are  indications  of  capacity  to 
occupy  a  better  position. 

The  contest  merely  reveals  such  capacity; 
the  promotion  might  well  follow  as  part  of  the 
prize  for  the  winner  or  winners. 

Public  commendation  of  winners  in  com- 


Competition  63 

petitions  is  held  by  many  firms  to  be  bad 
policy.  There  is  fear  that  such  commenda- 
tion might  render  the  participant  conceited 
and  unfit  for  further  usefulness.  A  majority 
of  firms,  however,  give  the  widest  possible 
publicity  to  such  commendation.  This,  in- 
deed, is  the  reward  most  generally  used  and 
apparently  most  keenly  desired  by  employees. 
Reproduction  of  photographs  of  the  winners 
in  the  house  organ  with  an  account  of  their 
achievements  is  the  commonest  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  success,  though  posting  the 
names  of  the  winners  in  various  parts  of  the 
establishment  is  the  method  employed  by 
smaller  houses. 

Many  important  houses  use  competition  as 
part  of  their  regular  equipment  for  handling 
and  energizing  men. 

Particularly  is  this  true  of  manufacturers 
and  distributors  of  specialties,  patented  ma- 
chines, trade-marked  goods  and  lines,  and 
wholesalers  whose  travelers  are  selling  in 
territories  where  conditions  are  generally  the 
same.  Several  firms  of  this  sort  make  con- 


64     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

scious  and  elaborate  use  of  the  instinct  of 
competition  in  their  ordinary  scheme  of  man- 
agement. 

A  concrete  and  typical  illustration  of  its 
application  to  selling  is  afforded  by  the  ex- 
perience and  the  undoubted  success  of  one 
of  the  largest  specialty  houses  which  dis- 
tributes its  products  direct  to  the  consumer. 
The  sales  force  numbers  about  $00  men,  and 
executives  of  wide  experience  declare  that  the 
organization  is,  of  its  size,  the  most  efficient 
in  the  United  States.  Analysis  of  this  com- 
pany's methods  is  most  illuminating  and  sug- 
gestive because  every  phase  of  the  instinct 
of  competition  has  been  exploited  to  the 
advantage  of  both  the  house  and  its  em- 
ployees. 

The  medium  of  competition  is  a  series  of 
contests  —  monthly,  quarterly,  even  yearly  — 
which  bring  into  play  all  the  motives  urging 
individuals  to  maximum  effort  and  industry  — 
desire  to  beat  bogy,  ambition  to  win  in  indi- 
vidual contest  with  immediate  neighbors  and 
against  the  whole  organization,  team  spirit  in 


Competition  65 

the  matching  of  one  group  of  agencies  against 
another  group,  and  finally  organization  spirit 
in  the  battle  of  the  whole  force  to  equal  or 
surpass  the  mark  which  has  been  set  for  it. 

The  first  and  basic  contest  here  is  that  of  the 
individual  salesman  against  his  bogy  or  "sales 
quota." 

This  quota,  the  monthly  amount  of  busi- 
ness which  each  agency  should  produce,  has 
been  worked  out  with  great  care  and  has  a 
scientific  foundation.  Since  the  great  bulk 
of  sales  are  made  to  retail  merchants,  the 
possibilities  of  each  territory  are  determined 
by  reckoning  the  total  population  of  all  towns 
containing  three  retailers  rated  by  commercial 
agencies.  For  normal  months  there  is  a  stand- 
ard quota,  a  little  above  the  monthly  average 
of  all  agencies  the  previous  year,  reckoned 
against  their  total  urban  populations.  In 
"rush"  months,  this  quota  is  advanced  from 
fifteen  to  forty  per  cent,  as  the  judgment  of  the 
sales  manager  dictates.  If  general  and  trade 
conditions  lead  him  to  believe,  for  instance, 
that  the  month  of  May  should  produce 


66     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

$1,000,000  in  orders,  while  the  sum  of  the 
usual  quotas  is  $800,000,  he  calls  for  an  over- 
plus of  twenty  per  cent.  The  territory  contain- 
ing one  per  cent  of  the  total  urban  population 
of  the  country,  as  reckoned,  would  then  be  ex- 
pected to  make  sales  equal  to  $10,000.  This 
would  be  the  agency  quota  for  the  month, 
and  the  first  and  most  important  task  of  the 
agent  would  be  to  secure  it. 

Because  all  quotas,  both  normal  and  special, 
are  figured  on  the  productive  population  of  the 
territories  and  standings  may  be  calculated  by 
percentages,  it  follows  that  all  agents  are  on  terms 
of  equality. 

This  is  essential  in  a  contest  for  individual 
leadership  as  well  as  in  team  or  organization 
matches.  For  at  least  eight  months  of  the 
year,  there  is  such  a  competition  for  the  best 
selling  record  in  the  entire  force.  Variety 
is  given  to  these  contests  and  the  interest  of 
the  men  sustained  by  changing  the  terms  of 
the  competition.  One  month  the  chief  prize 
will  be  given  to  the  salesman  who  secures  his 
quota  at  the  earliest  date;  next  month  the 


Competition  67 

award  will  be  for  the  individual  who  first  ob- 
tains a  fixed  sum  in  orders,  usually  $2500 ; 
leadership  the  third  month  will  go  to  the  man 
who  gets  the  highest  per  cent  of  his  quota 
during  the  entire  period ;  again,  the  honor  will 
fall  to  the  agent  whose  net  sales  total  the 
greatest  for  the  month. 

Further  changes  are  rung  and  the  inspirational 
effect  of  the  contest  immensely  increased  by  en- 
larging the  conditions  so  that  every  third  or 
fourth  agent  is  able  to  qualify  for  the  month's 
honors  and  a  prize. 

Here,  for  instance,  besides  the  prize  for 
the  first  agent  selling  $2500,  there  will  be 
prizes  —  like  hats,  umbrellas,  and  so  on  —  for 
every  man  who  closes  $2500  in  orders  before 
the  twentieth  of  the  month,  with  the  attendant 
publicity  of  having  his  portrait  and  his  record 
printed  in  the  house  organ  which  goes  to 
every  agent  in  the  field  and  every  department 
and  executive  at  the  factory.  Before  leaving 
the  individual  contests,  mention  should  be 
made  of  the  "star"  club  of  agents  who  sell 
$30,000  or  more  during  the  year;  the  presi- 


68     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

dency  going  to  the  agent  who  first  secures 
that  total,  the  other  official  positions  falling 
to  his  nearest  rivals  in  the  order  in  which 
they  finish. 

The  team  and  organization  contests  are 
usually  carried  on  simultaneously  with  the 
individual  competitions.  These  range  from 
matches  between  the  forces  of  the  big  city 
offices,  like  New  York,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis, 
upward  to  district  contests  in  which  each  team 
represents  from  thirty  to  fifty  salesmen  and 
finally  to  international  "wars"  where  the 
American  organization  is  pitted  against  all 
the  agents  abroad.  Challenges  from  one 
district  to  another  usually  precipitate  the 
district  competitions ;  once  a  year  there  is  a 
three  months'  general  contest  in  which  all  the 
districts  take  part  for  the  championship  of  the 
whole  selling  force. 

To  announce  contests  is  a  simple  matter; 
to  organize  and  execute  them  so  that  they  are  of 
benefit  is  much  more  difficult. 

Unless  the  interest  of  the  men  is  focused  on 
the  contests,  they  are  not  worth  while.  To 


Competition  69 

make  them  successful  the  firm  under  considera- 
tion utilized  the  following  devices  :  — 

During  the  contest  the  house  organ  ap- 
peared often  and  was  devoted  almost  ex- 
clusively to  the  contest.  In  it  the  record  of 
each  salesman  was  printed,  his  quota,  his 
sales  to  date,  and  other  pertinent  information. 
The  sheet  was  edited  by  a  "  sporting  editor, " 
and  great  tact  and  skill  were  displayed  in  giv- 
ing the  contest  the  atmosphere  of  an  actual 
race  or  game.  In  addition  the  sales  manager, 
the  district  managers,  and  the  house  executives 
wrote  letters  and  telegrams  of  encouragement, 
and  even  made  trips  to  the  agencies  that  got 
under  way  too  slowly. 

The  unique  feature  of  the  contest  was  the 
manner  in  which  the  "sporting  editor"  gave 
actuality  to  the  contests  by  pictorial  repre- 
sentations. One  competition  took  the  form 
of  a  shooting  match.  The  house  organ  con- 
tained an  enormous  target  with  two  rings 
and  a  bull's  eye.  When  a  salesman  qualified 
with  orders  for  $625,  he  was  credited  with  a 
shot  inside  the  outer  ring  and  his  name  was 


yo     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

printed  there.  With  $1250  in  sales,  he  moved 
into  the  inner  ring,  and  when  his  orders 
amounted  to  $2500,  he  was  credited  with  a 
bull's  eye  and  his  name  blazoned  in  the  center 
space. 

Another  contest  was  represented  as  a  bal- 
loon race  between  the  different  districts. 
Each  district  was  given  a  balloon,  and  as  sales 
increased,  the  airship  mounted  higher.  On 
the  balloon  the  name  of  the  district  leader  in 
sales  was  printed,  while  cartoons  enlivened 
the  race  by  showing  the  expedients,  in  terms 
of  orders,  by  which  the  district  managers  and 
their  crews  sought  to  drive  their  airships 
higher.  Each  issue  of  the  house  organ  showed 
the  current  standing  of  the  districts  by  the 
heights  of  their  balloons.  This  conception  of 
the  selling  contest  was  very  successful.  "Go- 
ing up  —  going  up  —  how  far  are  you  up 
now?"  was  used  as  a  call,  and  it  seemed  to 
strike  the  men  and  inspire  them.  It  became 
the  greeting  of  the  salesmen  when  they  met,  and 
irresistibly  produced  a  feelingof  competition  and 
a  desire  to  have  the  district  balloon  go  higher. 


Competition  7 1 

Other  ingenious  fancies  by  which  the  con- 
tests were  given  the  appeal  and  interest  of 
popular  sports  was  their  conception  as  a  base- 
ball game,  a  football  game,  an  automobile 
race,  a  Marathon  run,  and  so  on. 

In  providing  prizes,  the  firm  was  rather 
generous,  though  the  expense  was  never  great. 
While  the  contest  was  in  progress,  all  those 
who  were  really  "in  the  running"  had  the 
satisfaction  of  honorable  mention,  with  their 
photographs  reproduced  in  the  house  bulletin. 
This  honor  and  publicity  was  the  chief  reward 
received  by  the  great  majority  of  contestants, 
and  was  adequate.  Minor  prizes  were  offered 
on  conditions,  allowing  a  large  number  to  qual- 
ify, and  tempting  virtually  everybody  to  make 
an  effort  to  win  one.  The  value  of  the  prizes 
did  not  need  to  be  great,  for  each  man  was  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  that  his  comrades  were 
watching  him,  that  they  observed  every  ad- 
vance or  retrogression.  Success  in  the  con- 
test meant  "making  good"  in  the  eyes  of  the 
other  salesmen  as  well  as  in  the  eyes  of  his 
superiors. 


72     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

This  desire  for  social  approval  and  the  spir- 
ited comment  of  the  editor  had  a  marked  influ- 
ence on  the  efficiency  of  many  of  the  younger 
salesmen. 

These  special  contests  were  conducted 
chiefly  during  the  "rush"  seasons,  when 
activity  and  efficiency  of  salesmen  meant 
greater  returns  to  the  house.  Because  of 
their  varied  forms  the  contests  did  not  become 
monotonous,  and  thus  fail  in  their  effect. 
During  the  three  or  four  "big"  selling  months 
when  special  quotas  were  announced,  an  indi- 
vidual pocket  schedule  was  mailed  to  each 
man,  showing  how  much  business  he  must  close 
each  day  to  keep  pace  with  "Mr.  Quota,"  the 
constant  competitor. 

The  most  industrious  and  ambitious  men  are 
stimulated  by  competition;  with  the  less  indus- 
trious such  a  stimulation  is  often  wonder  work- 
ing in  its  effects. 

For  many  positions  in  the  business  world  a 
hypothetical  bogy  should  be  created  after  the 
style  of  the  quota  referred  to  above. 

To  increase  the  feeling  of  comradeship  and 


Competition  73 

promote  cooperation  between  the  men  the 
entire  organization  or  single  sections  of  it 
occasionally  should  be  made  the  unit  of  com- 
petition. This  is  perhaps  the  most  helpful 
form  of  competition,  but  it  is  hard  to  execute. 

Valuable  prizes  should  always  be  given  to 
the  winners.  This  "need"  may  not  neces- 
sarily be  monetary. 

Promotion  should  not  depend  upon  suc- 
cess in  contests,  but  such  success  may  be  well 
reckoned  in  awarding  promotions. 

Public  commendation  for  success  in  com- 
petition costs  the  company  little  and  is  greatly 
appreciated  by  the  winner.  There  seems  to 
be  no  reason  why  the  head  of  the  house  should 
not  assist  in  the  presentation. 

The  most  essential  factor  in  creating  in- 
terest in  a  contest  is  the  skill  of  the  "sport- 
ing editor"  in  injecting  the  real  spirit  of  the 
game  into  each  contest,  thus  securing  wide 
publicity,  and  enlisting  the  cooperation  of 
large  numbers  of  participants. 

Prizes  should  be  widely  distributed,  so  that 
the  greatest  number  may  be  encouraged. 


74     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

A  fair  system  of  handicapping  should  be 
adopted  in  every  case  where  equal  opportunity 
to  win  is  not  possessed  by  all.  Previous  records 
often  make  successful  bogies,  and  should  be 
more  extensively  employed. 

It  is  possible  to  carry  on  contests  between 
individuals  in  the  same  department  without 
jealousies,  but  skill  is  required  to  conduct 
them.  There  is  the  danger  that  individuals 
will  seek  to  win  by  hindering  others  as  well 
as  by  exerting  themselves.  Where  it  is  not 
possible  to  carry  on  a  contest  and  retain  a 
feeling  of  comradeship  between  the  men,  no 
competition  should  be  encouraged. 


CHAPTER  IV 
LOYALTY 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

DELAYED  by  a  train  of  accidents,  a 
big  contractor  faced  forfeiture  of  his 
bond  on  a  city  tunnel  costing  millions 
of  dollars.  He  had  exhausted  his  ingenuity 
and  his  resources  to  comply  with  the  terms  of 
his  contract,  but  had  failed.  Because  public 
opinion  had  been  condemning  concessions  on 
other  jobs  on  flimsy  grounds,  the  authorities 
refused  to  extend  the  time  allowed  for  com- 
pleting the  work.  By  canceling  the  contract, 
collecting  the  penalty,  and  reletting  the  task, 
the  city  would  profit  without  exceeding  its 
legal  rights. 

In  his  dilemma,  he  called  his  foremen 
together  and  explained  the  situation  to  them. 
"  Tell  the  men,"  he  said.  Many  of  these 

75 


j6     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

had  been  members  of  his  organization  for 
years,  moving  with  him  from  one  undertaking 
to  the  next,  looking  to  him  for  employment, 
for  help  in  dull  seasons  or  in  times  of  mis- 
fortune, repaying  him  with  interest  in  their 
tasks  and  a  certain  rough  attachment. 

He  had  been  unusually  considerate,  adopting 
every  possible  safeguard  for  their  protection, 
recognizing  their  union,  employing  three  shifts 
of  men,  paying  more  than  the  required  scale 
when  conditions  were  hard  or  dangerous. 

A  score  of  unions  were  represented  in  the 
organization :  miners,  masons,  carpenters, 
plasterers,  engineers,  electricians,  and  many 
grades  of  helpers.  Learning  his  plight,  they 
rallied  promptly  to  his  aid.  They  appealed 
to  their  trades  and  to  the  central  body  of 
unions  to  intervene  in  his  behalf  with  the  city 
officials. 

How  One  Considerate   Employer  was  protected 
by  his  Men 

As  taxpayers,  voters,  and  members  of  an 
organization  potentially  effective  in  politics, 


Loyalty  77 

they  approached  the  mayor  and  the  depart- 
ment heads  concerned.  They  pointed  out  — 
what  was  true  —  that  the  city's  negligence  in 
prospecting  and  charting  the  course  of  the 
tunnel  was  partly  responsible  for  the  con- 
tractor's failure.  They  pleaded  that  the  city 
should  make  allowances  rather  than  interrupt 
their  employment,  and  that  the  delay  in  the 
work  would  counterbalance  any  advantage 
contingent  on  forfeiture.  They  promised  also 
that  if  three  additional  months  were  given  the 
contractor,  they  would  do  all  in  their  power  to 
push  construction. 

The  mayor  yielded ;  the  extension  was 
granted.  And  the  men  made  their  promise 
good  literally,  waiving  jealously  guarded  rights 
and  sparing  no  effort  to  forward  the  under- 
taking. The  miners,  masons,  carpenters,  and 
specialists  in  other  lines  in  which  additional 
skilled  men  could  not  be  secured  labored  fre- 
quently in  twelve-hour  shifts  and  accepted 
only  the  regular  hourly  rate  for  the  overtime. 
With  such  zeal  animating  them,  only  one  con- 
clusion was  possible.  The  tunnel  was  entirely 


78     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

completed  before  the  ninety  days  of  grace  had 
expired. 

Here  was  loyalty  as  stanch  and  effective 
as  that  which  wins  battlefields  and  creates 
nations.  It  increased  the  efficiency  of  the 
individual  workers ;  it  greatly  augmented  the 
effectiveness  of  the  organization  as  a  whole. 
It  was  developed,  without  appeal  to  sentiment, 
under  conditions  which  make  for  division 
rather  than  cooperation  between  employer 
and  employee.  The  men  were  unionists ; 
wages,  hours,  and  so  on,  were  contract  matters 
with  the  boss.  Yet  in  an  emergency,  the  tie 
between  the  tunnel  builder  and  his  men  was 
strong  enough  to  stand  the  strain  of  the  fa- 
tiguing and  long-continued  effort  necessary 
to  complete  the  job  and  save  the  former  from 
ruin.  Like  incidents,  on  perhaps  a  smaller 
and  less  dramatic  scale,  are  not  uncommon ; 
but  the  historian  of  business  has  not  yet  risen 
to  make  them  known. 


Loyalty  79 

Loyalty,  to  Nation  or  Organization,  shows  itself 
in  an  Emergency 

As  with  patriotism,  business  loyalty  needs 
some  such  crisis  as  this  to  evoke  its  expres- 
sion. In  peace  the  patriotism  of  citizens  is 
rarely  evident  and  is  frequently  called  in 
question.  In  America  we  sometimes  assume 
that  it  is  a  virtue  belonging  only  to  past 
generations.  But  every  time  the  honor  or 
integrity  of  the  country  is  threatened,  a  mul- 
titude of  eager  citizens  volunteer  in  its  defense. 
Likewise,  many  a  business  man  who  has 
come  to  think  his  workmen  interested  only  in 
the  wages  he  pays  them,  discovers  in  his  hour 
of  need  an  unsuspected  asset  in  their  devotion 
to  the  welfare  of  the  business,  and  their  will- 
ingness to  make  sacrifices  to  bring  it  past  the 
cape  of  storms. 

Study  of  any  field,  of  any  single  house,  or 
of  any  of  the  periods  of  depression  which  have 
afflicted  and  corrected  our  industrial  progress, 
will  convince  one  of  the  unfailing  and  genuine 
loyalty  of  men  to  able  and  considerate  em- 


8o     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

plovers.  So  generally  true  is  this,  indeed,  that 
"house  patriotism,"  "organization  spirit,"  or 
"loyalty  to  the  management"  is  accepted 
by  all  great  executives  as  one  of  the  essential 
elements  in  the  day-by-day  conduct  of  their 
enterprises. 

Striking  exhibitions  of  this  loyalty  may  wait 
for  an  emergency.  Unless  it  exists,  however, 
unless  it  is  apparent  in  the  daily  routine,  there 
is  immediate  and  relentless  search  for  the 
antagonistic  condition  or  method,  which  is 
robbing  the  force  of  present  efficiency  and 
future  power.  Cooperation  of  employees  is 
the  first  purpose  of  organization.  Without 
loyalty  and  team  work  the  higher  levels  in 
output,  quality,  and  service  are  impossible. 

Loyalty  on  Part  of  Employer  begets  Loyalty  in 
his  Workers 

The  importance  of  loyalty  in  business  could 
not  readily  be  overestimated,  even  though  its 
sole  function  were  to  secure  united  action  on 
the  part  of  the  officers  and  men.  Where  no 
two  men  or  groups  of  men  were  working  to 


Loyalty  8 1 

counter  purposes,  but  all  are  united  in  a  com- 
mon purpose,  the  gain  would  be  enormous,  even 
though  the  amount  of  energy  put  forth  by  the 
individuals  was  not  increased  in  the  least. 
When  to  this  fact  of  value  in  organized  effort 
we  add  the  accompanying  psychological  facts 
of  increased  efficiency  by  means  of  loyalty, 
we  then  begin  to  comprehend  what  it  means 
to  have  or  to  lack  loyalty. 

The  amount  of  work  accomplished  by  an 
individual  is  subject  to  various  conditions. 
The  whole  intellect,  feeling,  and  will  must  work 
in  unity  to  secure  the  best  results.  Where 
there  is  no  heart  in  the  work  (absence  of 
feeling)  relatively  little  can  be  accomplished, 
even  though  the  intellect  be  convinced  and  the 
will  strained  to  the  utmost.  The  employee 
who  lacks  loyalty  to  his  employer  can  at  least 
render  but  half-hearted  service  even  though 
he  strive  to  his  utmost  and  though  he  be  con- 
vinced that  his  financial  salvation  is  depen- 
dent upon  efficient  service.  The  employer  who 
secures  the  loyalty  of  his  men  not  only  secures 
better  service,  but  he  enables  his  men  to  accomplish 


82     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

more  with  less  effort  and  less  exhaustion.  The 
creator  of  loyalty  is  a  public  benefactor. 

Such  loyalty  is  always  reciprocal.  The 
feeling  which  workmen  entertain  for  their 
employer  is  usually  a  reflection  of  his  attitude 
towards  them.  Fair  wages,  reasonable  hours, 
working  quarters  and  conditions  of  average 
comfort  and  healthfulness,  and  a  measure  of 
protection  against  accident  are  now  no  more 
than  primary  requirements  in  a  factory  or 
store.  Without  them  labor  of  the  better, 
more  energetic  types  cannot  be  secured  in  the 
first  place  or  held  for  any  length  of  time. 
And  the  employer  who  expects,  in  return  for 
these,  any  more  than  the  average  of  unin- 
spired service  is  sure  to  be  disappointed. 

If  he  treats  his  men  like  machines,  looks 
at  them  merely  as  cogs  in  the  mechanism 
of  his  affairs,  they  will  function  like  machines 
or  find  other  places.  If  he  wishes  to  stir 
the  larger,  latent  powers  of  their  brains  and 
bodies,  thereby  increasing  their  efficiency 
as  thinkers  and  workers,  he  must  recognize 
them  as  men  and  individuals  and  give  in 


Loyalty  83 

some  measure  what  he  asks.  He  must  iden- 
tify them  with  the  business,  and  make  them 
feel  that  they  have  a  stake  in  its  success  and 
that  the  organization  has  an  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  its  men.  The  boss  to  whom  his 
employees  turn  in  any  serious  perplexity  or 
private  difficulty  for  advice  and  aid  is  pretty 
apt  to  receive  more  than  the  contract  mini- 
mum of  effort  every  day  and  is  sure  of  devoted 
service  in  any  time  of  need. 

The  Effect    of  Personal  Relations   in  creating 
Loyalty  in  a  Force 

It  is  on  this  personal  relationship,  this  plat- 
form of  mutual  interests  and  helpfulness,  that 
the  success  and  fighting  strength  of  many  one- 
man  houses  are  built.  As  in  the  contractor's 
dilemma  already  cited,  it  bears  fruit  in  the 
fighting  zeal,  the  keener  interest,  and  the  extra 
speed  and  effort  which  workers  bring  to  bear 
on  their  individual  and  collective  tasks.  All 
the  knowledge  and  skill  they  possess  are 
thrown  into  the  scale ;  their  quickened  intelli- 
gences reach  out  for  new  methods  and  short 


84     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

cuts ;  when  the  crisis  has  passed,  there  may  be 
a  temporary  reaction,  but  there  is  likely  to  be 
a  permanent  advance  both  in  individual  effi- 
ciency and  organization  spirit. 

On  the  employer's  side,  this  feeling  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  surrender  of  profits  to  provide 
work  in  dull  seasons ;  in  the  retention  of 
aged  mechanics,  laborers,  or  clerks  on  the 
payroll  after  their  usefulness  has  passed ; 
in  pensions ;  in  a  score  of  neighborly  and 
friendly  offices  to  those  who  are  sick,  injured, 
or  in  trouble.  A  reputation  for  "taking  care 
of  his  men"  has  frequently  been  a  bulwark  of 
defense  to  the  small  manufacturer  or  trader 
assailed  by  a  greedy  larger  rival. 

Personality  is,  beyond  doubt,  the  primitive 
wellspring  of  loyalty.  Most  men  are  capa- 
ble of  devotion  to  a  worthy  leader;  few  are 
ever  zealots  for  the  sake  of  a  cause,  a  principle, 
a  party,  or  a  firm.  All  these  are  too  abstract 
to  win  the  affection  of  the  average  man.  It  is 
only  when  they  become  embodied  in  an  indi- 
vidual, a  concrete  personality  which  stirs  our 
human  interest,  that  they  become  moving 


Loyalty  85 

powers.  The  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  fought 
for  Washington  rather  than  for  freedom ; 
Christians  are  loyal  to  Christ  rather  than  to 
his  teachings ;  the  voter  cheers  his  candidate 
and  not  his  party ;  the  employee  is  loyal  to  the 
head  of  the  house  or  his  immediate  foreman 
and  not  to  the  generality  known  as  the  House. 
Loyalty  to  the  individuals  constituting  the 
firm  may  ultimately  develop  into  house  loy- 
alty. To  attempt  to  create  the  latter  senti- 
ment, however,  except  by  first  creating  it  for 
the  men  higher  up  is  to  go  contrary  to  human 
nature  —  always  an  unwise  expenditure  of 
energy. 

Human  Sympathy  as  a  Factor  in  developing 
Loyalty  in  Men 

In  developing  loyalty,  human  sympathy  is 
the  greatest  factor.  If  an  [executive  of  a 
company  is  confident  that  his  directors  ap- 
prove his  policies,  appreciate  his  obstacles, 
and  are  ready  to  back  him  up  in  any  crisis, 
his  energy  and  enthusiasm  for  the  common 
object  never  flag.  If  department  heads  and 


86     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

foremen  are  assured  that  the  manager  is 
watching  their  efforts  with  attention  and  re- 
gard, approving,  supporting,  and  sparing  them 
wherever  possible,  they  will  anticipate  orders, 
assume  extra  burdens,  and  fling  themselves 
and  their  forces  into  any  breach  which  may 
threaten  their  chief's  program. 

If  a  workman,  clerk,  or  salesman  knows  that 
his  immediate  chief  is  interested  in  him  per- 
sonally, that  he  understands  what  service  is 
being  rendered  and  is  anxious  to  forward  his 
welfare  as  well  as  that  of  the  house,  there  is 
no  effort,  inconvenience,  or  discomfort  which 
he  will  not  undertake  to  complete  a  task  which 
the  boss  has  undertaken.  Throughout  the 
entire  organization,  the  sympathy  and  coop- 
eration of  the  men  above  with  the  men  below 
is  essential  for  securing  the  highest  degree  of 
loyalty.  No  assumed  or  manufactured  sym- 
pathy, however,  will  take  the  place  of  the  gen- 
uine article. 


Loyalty  87 

Personal  Relationship  with  Workers  as  Basis 
for  creating  Loyalty 

The  effectiveness  of  human  sympathy  in 
creating  loyalty  is  most  apparent  in  one-man 
businesses  where  the  head  of  the  house  is  in 
personal  contact  with  all  or  many  of  his  em- 
ployees. This  personal  touch,  however,  is 
not  necessarily  limited  to  the  small  organiza- 
tion. Many  men  have  employed  thousands 
and  secured  it.  Others  have  succeeded  in  im- 
pressing their  personalities,  and  demonstrating 
their  sympathy  upon  large  forces,  though 
their  actual  relations  were  with  a  few.  The 
impression  made  upon  these  and  the  loyalty 
created  in  them  were  sufficient  to  permeate  and 
influence  the  entire  body.  Potter  Palmer,  the 
elder  Armour,  Marshall  Field,  and  Andrew  Car- 
negie were  among  the  hundreds  of  captains 
who  made  acquaintance  with  the  men  in  the 
ranks  the  cornerstone  on  which  they  raised 
their  trade  or  industrial  citadels. 

When  the  size  of  the  organization  precludes 
personal  contact,  or  when  conditions  remove 


88     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

the  executive  to  a  distance,  the  task  of  main- 
taining touch  is  frequently  and  successfully 
intrusted  to  a  lieutenant  in  sympathy  with 
the  chief's  ideals  and  purposes.  He  may 
be  the  head  of  a  department  variously  styled, 
—  adjustments,  promotion  and  discharge,  em- 
ployment, labor,  —  but  his  express  function 
is  to  restore  to  an  organization  the  simple 
but  powerful  human  relation  without  which 
higher  efficiency  cannot  be  maintained.  In 
factories  and  stores  employing  many  women 
this  understudy  to  the  manager  is  usually  a 
woman,  who  is  given  plenary  authority  in  the 
handling  of  her  charges,  in  reviewing  disputes 
with  foremen,  and  in  finding  the  right  posi- 
tion for  the  misplaced  worker.  Whether  man 
or  woman,  this  representative  of  the  manager 
hears  all  grievances,  reviews  all  discharges, 
reductions,  and  the  like,  and  makes  sure  that 
the  employee  receives  a  little  more  than  ab- 
solute justice. 

Many  successful  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers, however,  disdain  agents  and  inter- 
mediaries in  this  relation  and  are  always  ac- 


Loyalty  89 

cessible  to  every  man  in  their  organizations ; 
holding  that,  since  the  cooperation  of  employ- 
ees is  the  most  important  single  element  in 
business,  the  time  given  to  securing  it  is  time 
well  spent. 

Even  though  human  sympathy  may  well 
be  regarded  as  the  most  important  consider- 
ation in  increasing  loyalty,  it  is  not  sufficient 
in  and  of  itself.  The  most  patriotic  citizens 
are  those  who  have  served  the  state.  They 
are  made  loyal  by  the  very  act  of  service. 
They  have  assumed  the  responsibility  of  pro- 
moting the  welfare  of  the  state,  and  their 
patriotism  is  thereby  stimulated  and  given 
concrete  outlet.  A  paternalistic  government 
in  which  the  citizens  had  every  right  but  no 
responsibility  would  develop  beggars  rather 
than  patriots. 

Similarly  in  a  business  house  ideally  or- 
ganized to  create  loyalty,  each  employee  not 
only  feels  that  his  rights  are  protected,  but 
also  feels  a  degree  of  responsibility  for  the 
success  and  for  the  good  name  of  the  house. 
He  feels  that  his  task  or  process  is  an  essen- 


90     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

tial  part  of  the  firm's  activity;  and  hence  is 
important  and  worthy  of  his  best  efforts.  To 
cement  this  bond  and  make  closer  the  iden- 
tification of  the  employee  with  the  house  many 
firms  encourage  their  employees  to  purchase 
stock  in  the  company.  Others  have  worked 
out  profit-sharing  plans  by  which  their  men 
share  in  the  dividends  of  the  good  years  and 
are  given  a  powerful  incentive  to  promote 
teamwork  and  the  practice  of  the  economies 
from  which  the  overplus  of  profit  is  produced. 

Loyalty  may  be  developed  by  Education  in  House 
History  and  Policies 

The  stability  of  a  nation  depends  on  the 
patriotism  of  its  citizens.  Among  methods 
for  developing  this  patriotism,  education  ranks 
as  the  most  effective.  In  the  public  schools 
history  is  taught  for  the  purpose  of  awakening 
the  love  and  loyalty  of  the  rising  generations. 
The  founders,  builders,  and  saviors  of  the  coun- 
try, the  great  men  of  peace  and  war  who  have 
contributed  to  its  advancement,  are  held  up 
for  admiration.  From  the  recital  of  what 


Loyalty  9 1 

country  and  patriotism  meant  to  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Lincoln,  Grant,  and  a  host  of  lesser 
heroes,  the  pupils  come  to  realize  what  coun- 
try should,  and  does,  mean  to  them.  They 
become  patriotic  citizens. 

Grounding  the  New  Employee  in  Company 
Traditions  and  Ideals 

In  like  manner  the  history  of  any  house  can 
be  used  to  inspire  loyalty  and  enthusiasm 
among  its  employees.  Business  has  not  been 
slow  to  borrow  the  methods  and  ideals  of 
education,  but  the  writer  has  been  unable  to 
discover  any  company  which  makes  adequate 
use  of  this  principle.  That  this  loyalty  may 
be  directed  to  the  house  as  a  whole,  and  not 
merely  to  immediate  superiors,  every  employee 
should  be  acquainted  with  the  purposes  and 
policies  of  the  company  and  should  under- 
stand that  the  sympathy  which  he  discovers  in 
his  foreman  is  a  common  characteristic  of  the 
whole  organization,  clear  up  to  the  president. 
The  best  way  to  teach  this  is  by  example  — • 
by  incidents  drawn  from  the  past,  or  by  a 


92     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

review  of  the  development  of  the  company's 
policy. 

To  identify  one's  self  with  a  winning  cause, 
party,  or  leader,  also,  is  infinitely  easier  than 
to  be  loyal  to  a  loser.  For  this  reason  the 
study  of  the  history  of  the  firm  may  well  in- 
clude its  trade  triumphs,  past  and  present; 
the  remarkable  or  interesting  uses  to  which  its 
products  have  been  put ;  the  honor  or  pres- 
tige which  its  executives  or  members  of  the 
organization  have  attained;  and  the  hundred 
other  items  of  human  interest  which  can  be 
marshaled  to  give  it  house  personality.  All 
this  would  arouse  admiration  and  apprecia- 
tion in  employees,  would  stir  enthusiasm  and 
a  desire  to  contribute  to  future  achievements, 
and  would  foster  an  unwillingness  to  leave  the 
organization. 

Some  companies  have  begun  in  this  direc- 
tion. New  employees,  by  way  of  introduc- 
tion, listen  to  lectures,  either  with  or  without 
the  accompaniment  of  pictures,  which  review 
what  the  house  has  accomplished,  define  its 
standing  in  the  trade,  analyze  its  products  and 


Loyalty  93 

their  qualities  or  functions,  sketch  the  plan  and 
purpose  of  its  organization,  and  touch  upon  the 
other  points  of  chief  human  interest.  Other 
companies  put  this  information  in  booklets. 
Still  others  employ  their  house  organs  to  recall 
and  do  honor  to  the  interesting  traditions  of 
the  company  as  well  as  to  exploit  the  success- 
ful deeds  and  men  of  the  moment.  An  or- 
ganized and  continuous  campaign  of  education 
along  this  line  should  prove  an  inexpensive 
means  of  increasing  loyalty  and  efficiency 
among  the  men.  To  the  mind  of  the  writer,  it 
seems  clear  that  the  future  will  see  pronounced 
advances  in  this  particular. 

Personality  can  be  overdone,  however. 
Workers  instinctively  give  allegiance  to  strong, 
balanced  men,  but  resent  and  combat  egotism 
unchecked  by  regard  for  others'  rights.  Ex- 
ploitation of  the  employer's  or  foreman's 
personality  will  do  more  harm  than  good  unless 
attended  by  consideration  for  the  personality 
of  the  employee.  The  service  of  more  than 
one  important  company  has  been  made  in- 
tolerable for  men  of  spirit  and  creative  ability 


94     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

by  the  arrogant  and  dominating  spirit  of  the 
management.  The  men  who  continue  to 
sacrifice  their  individuality  to  the  whim  or  the 
arbitrary  rule  of  their  superiors,  in  time  lose 
their  ambition  and  initiative;  and  the  or- 
ganization declines  to  a  level  of  routine,  me- 
chanical efficiency  only  one  remove  from  dry- 
rot. 

How  Efficiency  and  Loyalty  of  Workers  may  be 
Capitalized 

Conservation  and  development  of  individu- 
ality in  workers  may  be  made  an  important 
factor  in  creating  loyalty  as  well  as  in  directly 
increasing  efficiency.  Great  retail  stores  put 
many  department  heads  into  business  for 
themselves,  giving  them  space,  light,  buying 
facilities,  clerks,  and  purchasing  and  advertis- 
ing credit  as  a  basis  of  their  merchandising; 
then  requiring  a  certain  percentage  of  profit 
on  the  amount  allowed  them.  The  more  suc- 
cessful of  Marshall  Field's  lieutenants  were 
taken  into  partnership  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
Andrew  Carnegie  and  his  "cabinet  of  young 


Loyalty  95 

geniuses,"  were  given  substantial  shares  of  the 
wealth  they  helped  to  create. 

Some  industries  and  stores  carry  this  prac- 
tice to  the  point  of  making  specialized  depart- 
ments entirely  independent  of  the  general 
buying,  production,  and  selling  organizations 
whenever  these  fall  short  of  the  service  offered 
outside;  while  the  principle  of  stock  dis- 
tribution or  other  forms  of  profit  sharing  has 
been  adopted  by  so  many  companies  that  it 
has  come  to  be  a  recognized  method  of  pro- 
moting loyalty. 

Regard  for  the  employee's  personality  must 
be  carried  down  in  an  unbroken  chain  through 
all  the  ranks.  It  may  be  broken  at  any  step 
in  the  descent  by  an  executive  or  foreman 
who  has  not  himself  learned  the  lesson  that 
loyalty  to  the  house  includes  loyalty  to  the 
men  under  him. 

It  is  not  uncommon,  in  some  American 
houses,  to  find  three  generations  of  workers 
—  grandfather,  father,  and  apprentice  son  — 
rendering  faithful  and  friendly  service ;  or  to 
discover  a  score  of  bosses  and  men  who  have 


g6     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

spent  thirty  or  forty  years  —  their  entire 
productive  lives  —  in  the  one  organization. 
Where  such  a  bond  exists  between  employer 
and  employees,  it  becomes  an  active,  unfailing 
force  in  the  development  of  loyalty,  not  only 
among  the  veterans,  but  also  among  the  newest 
recruits  for  whom  it  realizes  an  illustration  of 
what  true  cooperation  means. 

Many  Examples  of  the  Loyalty  of  Executives  for 
their  Men  in  Danger 

This  double  loyalty  —  to  the  chief  and  to 
the  organization  —  is  not  a  plant  of  slow 
growth.  Few  mine  accidents  or  industrial 
disasters  occur  without  bringing  to  merited, 
but  fleeting,  fame  some  heroic  superintendent 
or  lesser  boss  who  has  risked  his  own  life  to 
save  his  men  or  preserve  the  company's 
property.  The  same  sense  of  responsibility 
extends  to  every  grade.  Give  a  man  the 
least  touch  of  authority  and  he  seems  to  take 
on  added  moral  stature.  The  engineer  who 
clings  to  his  throttle  with  collision  imminent 
has  his  counterparts  in  the  "handy  man" 


Loyalty  97 

who  braves  injury  to  slip  a  belt  and  save 
another  workman  or  a  costly  machine,  and  in 
the  elevator  conductor  who  drives  his  car  up 
and  down  through  flames  and  smoke  to  rescue 
his  fellows.  Such  efficiency  and  organization 
spirit  is  the  result  of  individual  growth  as  well 
as  the  impression  of  the  employer's  personality 
upon  his  machine. 

A  Disloyal  Sales  Manager  and  his  Influence  on 
his  Force 

On  the  other  hand,  lack  of  loyalty  on  the 
part  of  employers  towards  their  men  is  almost 
as  common  as  failing  devotion  on  the  part  of 
workers.  Too  many  assume  that  the  mere 
providing  of  work  and  the  payment  of  wages 
give  them  the  right  to  absolute  fidelity,  even 
when  they  take  advantage  of  their  men.  The 
sales  manager  concerned  in  the  following  in- 
cident refused  to  believe  that  his  attitude 
towards  his  men  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
lack  of  enthusiasm  and  low  efficiency  in  his 
force. 

An  experienced  salesman  who  had  lost  his 


98     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

position  because  of  the  San  Francisco  fire 
applied  to  the  sales  manager  for  a  position. 
He  was  informed  that  there  were  fifteen  appli- 
cants for  the  Ohio  territory,  but  that  the 
place  would  be  given  to  him  because  of  his 
better  record.  The  manager  laid  out  an 
initial  territory  in  one  corner  and  ordered  the 
salesman  to  work  it  first. 

Working  this  territory,  the  salesman  se- 
cured substantial  orders,  but  refrained  from 
"over-selling"  any  customer,  gave  consider- 
able time  to  missionary  work  and  to  cultivat- 
ing the  acquaintance  of  buyers.  His  cam- 
paign was  planned  less  for  immediate  results 
than  for  the  future  and  for  the  effect  on  the 
larger  field  of  the  state.  Having  no  instruc- 
tions as  to  pushing  his  wider  campaign,  in 
about  sixty  days  he  asked  for  instructions. 
In  answer  he  was  ordered  home  and  discharged 
on  the  ground  that  business  was  dull  and  that 
he  had  been  a  loss  to  the  house.  During  the 
sixty  days  he  had  been  working  on  a  losing 
commission  basis  with  the  expectation  of 
taking  his  profits  later.  Investigation  dis- 


Loyalty  99 

closed  that  he  was  but  one  of  five  salesmen  to 
whom  the  Ohio  territory  had  been  assigned 
simultaneously.  Of  the  five,  one  other  also 
had  made  good  and  had  been  retained  because 
he  could  be  secured  for  less  money. 

This  multiple  try-out  policy  is  entirely 
fair  when  the  applicants  know  the  conditions. 
But  to  lead  each  applicant  to  believe  that  he 
has  been  engaged  subject  only  to  his  ability 
to  make  good  is  manifestly  unjust.  The  facts 
are  bound  to  come  out  sooner  or  later  and 
create  distrust  among  all  employees  of  the 
house.  Loyalty  is  strictly  reciprocal.  If  an 
employee  feels  that  he  has  no  assurance  of 
fair  treatment,  his  attitude  towards  the  firm 
is  sure  to  be  negative.  Even  the  man  who 
secures  the  position  will  recognize  the  firm's 
lack  of  candor  and  will  never  give  his  employers 
the  full  measure  of  cooperation  which  produces 
maximum  efficiency. 

The  "square  deal,"  indeed,  is  the  indis- 
pensable basis  of  loyalty  and  efficiency  in  an 
organization.  The  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter 
of  the  bargain  must  be  observed,  else  the  work- 


ioo      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in   Business 

men  will  contrive  to  even  up  matters  by  loafing, 
by  slighting  the  work,  or  by  a  minimum  pro- 
duction. This  means  a  loss  of  possible  daily 
earnings.  On  the  other  hand,  employees  never 
fail  to  recognize  and  in  time  respect  the  execu- 
tive who  holds  the  balance  of  loyalty  and  jus- 
tice level  between  them  and  the  business. 

Fair  wages,  reasonable  hours,  working  quar- 
ters and  conditions  of  average  comfort  and 
healthfulness,  ordinary  precautions  against 
accidents,  and  continuous  employment  are 
all  now  regarded  as  primary  requirements 
and  are  not  sufficient  to  create  loyalty  in  the 
men.  More  than  this  must  be  done. 

The  chief  executive  should  create  such  a 
spirit  that  his  officers  shall  turn  to  him  for 
help  when  in  perplexity  or  difficulty.  The 
superintendent  and  officers  or  bosses  should 
sustain  this  same  sympathetic  relationship 
toward  their  men  that  the  executive  has  toward 
his  officers.  A  reputation  for  taking  care  of 
his  men  is  a  thing  to  be  sought  in  a  chief 
executive  as  well  as  in  all  underofficers. 

Personal  relationships  should  be  cultivated. 


Loyalty  101 

In  some  large  organizations  the  chief  executive 
may  secure  this  personal  touch  with  individuals 
through  an  agent  or  through  a  department 
known  as  the  department  of  "promotion  and 
discharge,"  "employment,"  or  "labor."  In 
others,  occasional  meetings  on  a  level  of  equal- 
ity may  be  brought  about  through  house  pic- 
nics, entertainments,  vacation  camps,  and  so 
on,  where  employer  and  employee  meet  each 
other  outside  their  usual  business  environ- 
ment. 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  attempt  to  develop 
loyalty  to  the  house  until  there  has  been 
developed  a  loyalty  to  the  personalities  repre- 
senting the  house.  Loyalty  in  business  is 
in  the  main  a  reciprocal  relationship.  The 
way  to  begin  it  is  for  the  chief  to  be  loyal  to 
his  subordinates  and  to  see  to  it  that  all  offi- 
cers are  loyal  to  their  inferiors.  When  loyalty 
from  above  has  been  secured,  loyalty  from  the 
ranks  may  readily  be  developed. 

The  personality  of  the  worker  must  be 
respected  by  the  employer.  "Giving  a  man 
a  chance"  to  develop  himself,  allowing  him 


IO2      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  express  his  individuality,  is  the  surest  way 
of  enlisting  the  interest  and  loyalty  of  a 
creative  man. 

To  identify  the  interests  of  employees  with 
the  interests  of  the  house,  various  plans  of 
profit  sharing,  sale  of  stock  to  employees, 
pensions,  insurance  against  sickness  and  acci- 
dent, and  so  on,  have  been  successfully  applied 
by  many  companies. 

So  far  as  possible,  responsibility  for  the 
success  of  the  house  should  be  assumed  by 
all  employees.  In  some  way  the  workmen 
should  feel  that  they  are  in  partnership  with 
the  executives.  We  easily  develop  loyalty 
for  the  cause  for  which  we  have  taken  respon- 
sibility or  rendered  a  service. 

Creating  Loyalty  to  Firm  itself  by  Educational 
Campaign 

A  perpetual  campaign  of  publicity  should  be 
maintained  for  the  benefit  of  every  man  in  the 
employ  of  the  house.  In  this  there  should  be 
a  truthful  but  emphatic  presentation  of  acts 
of  loyalty  on  the  part  of  either  employers  or 


Loyalty  103 

workmen.  Everything  connected  with  the 
firm  which  has  human  interest  should  be  in- 
cluded in  this  history.  This  educational  cam- 
paign should  change  the  loyalty  to  the  men 
in  the  firm  into  loyalty  to  the  firm  itself.  It 
should  be  an  attempt  to  give  the  firm  a  per- 
sonality, and  of  such  a  noble  character  that  it 
would  win  the  loyalty  of  the  men.  This  could 
be  accomplished  at  little  expense  and  with 
great  profit. 


CHAPTER  V 
CONCENTRATION 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

THE  owner  of  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
complex  businesses  in  America  handles 
his  day's  work  on  a  schedule  as  exact- 
ing as  a  railway  time-table.  In  no  other  way 
could  he  keep  in  touch  with  and  administer 
the  manifold  activities  of  his  industry  and  a 
score  of  allied  interests  —  buying  of  the  day's 
raw  materials  for  a  dozen  plants  in  half  as 
many  markets,  direction  of  an  organization 
exceeding  20,000  men,  selling  and  delivering 
a  multitude  of  products  in  a  field  as  wide  as 
three  continents,  financing  the  whole  tremen- 
dous fabric. 

Every  department  of  his  business,  therefore, 
has  its  hour  or  quarter  hour  in  the  daily  pro- 
gram when  its  big  problems  are  considered 

104 


Concentration  105 

and  settled  on  the  tick  of  the  clock.  This 
schedule  is  flexible,  since  no  two  days  bring 
from  any  division  of  production,  distribution, 
or  financing  the  same  demands  upon  the  own- 
er's attention.  Yet  each  keeps  its  place  and 
comes  invariably  under  his  eye  —  through 
reports  and  his  own  mastery  of  conditions 
affecting  the  department. 

To  secure  the  high  personal  efficiency  required 
for  this  oversight  and  methodical  dispatch  of 
affairs,  the  owner-executive  is  not  only  protected 
from  outside  interruptions  and  distractions,  but  is 
also  guarded  against  intrusion  of  the  vital 
elements  of  his  business  —  both  men  and  matters 
—  except  at  the  moment  most  advantageous  for 
dealing  with  them. 

Analysis  and  organization  have  determined 
these  moments  —  just  as  they  have  eliminated 
every  non-essential  in  the  things  presented 
for  consideration  and  decision.  Except  when 
emergencies  arise  there  is  no  departure  from 
the  rule:  "One  thing  at  a  time — the  big 
thing  —  at  the  right  time."  The  task  in  hand 
is  never  cheated,  or  allowed  to  cheat  the  next 


io6      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

in  line.  Management  is  as  much  a  continuous 
process,  organized  and  wasteproof,  as  the 
journey  of  raw  materials  through  his  plants. 

This  is  an  illustration  of  remarkable  in- 
dividual efficiency  attained  by  concentration 
—  the  power  of  the  human  mind  which  seems 
inseparable  from  any  great  achievement  in 
business,  in  politics,  in  the  arts,  in  education. 
Through  it  men  of  moderate  capacities  have 
secured  results  apparently  beyond  the  reach 
of  genius.  And  in  no  field  has  this  power  of 
concentration  been  displayed  more  vividly  by 
leaders  or  been  more  generally  lacking  in  the 
rank  and  file  than  in  business.  Analysis  of 
the  conditions  may  suggest  the  reason  and  the 
remedy. 

The  modern  business  man  is  exhausted  no 
more  by  his  actual  achievements  than  by  the 
things  which  he  is  compelled  to  resist  doing. 

Appeals  for  his  attention  are  ceaseless. 
The  roar  of  the  street,  the  ring  of  telephone 
bells,  the  din  of  typewriting  machines,  the 
sight  of  a  row  of  men  waiting  for  an  interview, 
the  muffled  voices  from  neighboring  offices  or 


Concentration  107 

workers,  the  plan  for  the  day's  work  which  is 
being  delayed,  the  anxiety  for  the  results  for 
certain  endeavors,  suspicion  as  to  the  loyalty 
of  employees  --  these  and  a  score  of  other  dis- 
tractions are  constantly  bombarding  him. 

Every  appeal  for  attention  demands  ex- 
penditure of  energy --to  ignore  it  and  hold 
the  mind  down  to  the  business  in  hand.  The 
simple  life  with  its  single  appeal  is  not  for  the 
business  man.  For  him  life  is  complex  and 
strenuous.  To  overcome  distractions  and  fo- 
cus his  mind  on  one  thing  is  a  large  part  of  his 
task.  If  this  single  thing  alone  appealed  to 
his  attention,  the  effort  would  be  pleasing  and 
effective.  It  is  not  the  work  that  is  hard ;  the 
strain  comes  in  keeping  other  things  at  bay 
while  completing  the  pressing  duty. 

He  is  exhausted,  not  because  of  his  achieve- 
ments^ but  because  of  the  expenditure  of  energy 
in  resisting  distractions. 

He  is  inefficient,  not  through  lack  of  indus- 
try, but  from  lack  of  opportunity  or  of  ability 
to  concentrate  his  energy  upon  the  single  task 
at  hand. 


io8      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

All  sources  of  illumination  —  from  the  can- 
dle to  the  sun  —  send  out  rays  of  light  equally 
in  all  directions.  If  illumination  of  only  one 
point  is  desired,  the  loss  is  appalling.  The  rays 
may  be  assembled,  however,  by  reflectors  and 
lenses  and  so  brought  to  bear  in  great  force 
at  a  single  point. 

This  brilliancy  is  not  secured  by  greater 
expenditure  of  energy,  but  by  utilizing  the 
rays  which,  except  for  the  reflectors  and  lenses, 
would  be  dissipated  in  other  directions. 

As  any  source  gives  off  equally  in  all  directions, 
so  the  human  intellect  seems  designed  to  respond 
to  all  forms  and  sorts  of  appeal  for  attention. 

To  keep  light  from  going  off  in  useless  direc- 
tions we  use  reflectors  ;  to  keep  human  energy 
from  being  expended  in  useless  directions  we 
must  remove  distractions.  To  focus  the  light 
at  any  point  we  use  lenses  ;  to  focus  our  minds 
at  any  point  we  use  concentration. 

Concentration  is  a  state  secured  by  the  men- 
tal activity  called  attention.  To  understand 
concentration  we  must  first  consider  the  more 
fundamental  facts  of  attention. 


Concentration  109 

In  the  evolution  of  the  human  race  certain 
things  have  been  so  important  for  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  race  that  responses  towards 
them  have  become  instinctive.  They  ap- 
peal to  every  individual  and  attract  his  atten- 
tion without  fail.  Thus  moving  objects,  loud 
sounds,  sudden  contrasts,  and  the  like,  were 
ordinarily  portents  of  evil  to  primitive  man, 
and  his  attention  was  drawn  to  them  irresist- 
ibly. Even  for  us  to  pay  attention  to  such 
objects  requires  no  intention  and  no  effort. 
Hence  it  is  spoken  of  as  passive  or  involuntary 
attention. 

The  attention  of  animals  and  of  children 
is  practically  confined  to  this  passive  form, 
while  adults  are  by  no  means  free  from  it. 
For  instance,  ideas  and  things  to  which  I 
have  no  intention  of  turning  my  mind  attract 
me.  Ripe  fruit,  gesticulating  men,  beautiful 
women,  approaching  holidays,  and  scores  of 
other  things  simply  pop  up  in  my  mind  and 
enthrall  my  attention.  My  mind  may  be  so 
concentrated  upon  these  things  that  I  become 
oblivious  to  pressing  responsibilities.  In  some 


no      Increasing   Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

instances  the  concentration  may  be  but  mo- 
mentary; in  others  there  may  result  a  day 
dream,  a  building  of  air  castles,  which  lasts 
for  a  long  time  and  recurs  with  distressing 
frequency. 

Such  attention  is  action  in  the  line  of  least 
resistance.  Though  it  may  suffice  for  the  acts 
of  animals  and  children  it  is  sadly  deficient  for 
our  complex  business  life. 

Even  here,  however,  it  is  easy  to  relapse 
to  the  lower  plane  of  activity  and  to  respond 
to  the  appeal  of  the  crier  in  the  street,  the  in- 
convenience of  the  heat,  the  news  of  the  ball 
game,  or  a  pleasing  reverie,  or  even  to  fall 
into  a  state  of  mental  apathy.  The  warfare 
against  these  distractions  is  never  wholly 
won.  Banishing  these  allurements  results  in 
the  concentration  so  essential  for  successfully 
handling  business  problems.  The  strain  is 
not  so  much  in  solving  the  problems  as  in  re- 
taining the  concentration  of  the  mind. 

When  an  effort  of  will  enables  us  to  overcome 
these  distractions  and  apply  our  minds  to  the 
subject  in  hand,  the  strain  soon  repeats  itself. 


Concentration  1 1 1 

It  frequently  happens  that  this  struggle  is 
continuous  —  particularly  when  the  distrac- 
tions are  unusual  or  our  physical  condition  is 
below  the  normal.  No  effort  of  the  will  is 
able  to  hold  our  minds  down  to  work  for  any 
length  of  time  unless  the  task  develops  in- 
terest in  itself. 

This  attention  with  effort  is  known  as  vol- 
untary attention.  It  is  the  most  exhausting  act 
which  any  individual  can  perform.  Strength 
of  will  consists  in  the  power  to  resist  dis- 
tractions and  to  hold  the  mind  down  to  even 
the  most  uninteresting  occupations.  ..* 

Fortunately  for  human  achievement,  acts 
which  in  the  beginning  require  voluntary  effort 
may  later  result  without  effort. 

The  schoolboy  must  struggle  to  keep  his 
mind  on  such  uninteresting  things  as  the  al- 
phabet. Later  he  may  become  a  literary 
man  and  find  that  nothing  attracts  his  atten- 
tion so  quickly  as  printed  symbols.  In  com- 
mercial arithmetic  the  boy  labors  to  fix  his 
attention  on  dollar  signs  and  problems  in- 
volving profit  and  loss.  Launched  in  business, 


ill      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

however,  these  things  may  attract  him  more 
than  a  football  game. 

;  It  is  the  outcome  of  previous  application 
that  we  now  attend  without  effort  to  many 
things  in  our  civilization  which  differ  from 
those  of  more  primitive  life.  Such  attention 
without  effort  is  known  as  secondary  passive 
attention.  Examples  are  furnished  by  the 
geologist's  attention  to  the  strata  of  the 
earth,  the  historian's  to  original  manuscripts, 
the  manufacturer's  to  by-products,  the  mer- 
chant's to  distant  customers,  and  the  attention 
which  we  all  give  to  printed  symbols  and  scores 
of  other  things  unnoticed  by  our  distant  an- 
cestors. Here  our  attention  is  similar  to  pas- 
sive attention,  though  the  latter  was  the  result 
of  inheritance,  while  our  secondary  passive 
attention  results  from  our  individual  efforts 
and  is  the  product  of  our  training. 

Through  passive  attention  my  concentra- 
tion upon  a  "castle  in  Spain"  may  be  perfect 
until  destroyed  by  a  fly  on  my  nose.  Volun- 
tary attention  may  make  my  concentration 
upon  the  duty  at  hand  entirely  satisfactory 


Concentration  113 

till  dissipated  by  some  one  entering  my  office. 
Secondary  passive  attention  fixes  my  mind 
upon  the  adding  of  a  column  of  figures,  and  it 
may  be  distracted  by  a  commotion  in  my  vicin- 
ity. Thus  concentration  produced  by  any 
form  of  attention  is  easily  destroyed  by  a 
legion  of  possible  disturbances.  If  I  desire 
to  increase  my  concentration  to  the  maxi- 
mum, I  must  remove  every  possible  cause  of 
distraction. 

Organized  society  has  recognized  the  hinder- 
ing effect  of  some  distractions  and  has  made 
halting  attempts  to  abolish  them. 

Thus  locomotives  are  prohibited  from  sound- 
ing whistles  within  city  limits,  but  power 
plants  are  permitted  by  noise  and  smoke  to 
annoy  every  citizen  in  the  vicinity.  Street 
cars  are  forbidden  to  use  flat  wheels,  but  are 
still  allowed  to  run  on  the  surface  or  on  a  re- 
sounding structure  and  thus  become  a  public 
nuisance.  Steam  calliopes,  newsboys,  street 
venders,  and  other  unnecessary  sources  of 
noise  are  still  tolerated. 

In   the   design   and   construction  of  office 


114      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

buildings,  stores,  and  factories  in  noisy  neigh- 
borhoods, too  little  consideration  is  given  to 
existing  means  of  excluding  or  deadening 
outside  sounds,  though  the  newer  office  build- 
ings are  examples  of  initiative  in  this  direction ; 
not  only  are  they  of  sound-proof  construction, 
but  in  many  instances  they  have  replaced  the 
noisy  pavements  of  the  streets  with  blocks 
which  reduce  the  clatter  to  a  minimum.  In 
both  improvements  they  have  been  emulated 
by  some  of  the  great  retail  stores  which  have 
shut  out  external  noises  and  reduced  those 
within  to  a  point  where  they  no  longer  dis- 
tract the  attention  of  clerks  or  customers 
from  the  business  of  selling  and  buying.  In 
many,  however,  clerks  are  still  forced  to  call 
aloud  for  cash  girls  or  department  managers, 
and  the  handling  of  customers  at  elevators  is 
attended  by  wholly  unnecessary  shouting  and 
clash  of  equipment. 

Of  all  distractions,  sound  is  certainly  the 
most  common  and  the  most  insistent  in  its  appeal. 

The  individual  efforts  towards  reducing 
it  quoted  above  were  stimulated  by  the  hope 


Concentration  115 

of  immediate  and  tangible  profit  —  sound- 
proof offices  commanding  higher  rents  and 
quiet  stores  attracting  more  customers.  In 
not  a  few  cases,  manufacturers  have  gone 
deeper,  however,  recognizing  that  anything 
which  claims  the  attention  of  an  employee 
from  his  work  reduces  his  efficiency  and  cuts 
profits,  even  though  he  be  a  piece  worker.  In 
part  this  explains  the  migration  of  many  in- 
dustries to  the  smaller  towns  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  new  type  of  city  factory  with  sound- 
proof walls  and  floors,  windows  sealed  against 
noise,  and  a  system  of  mechanical  ventilation. 
The  individual  manufacturer  or  merchant, 
therefore,  need  not  wait  for  a  general  crusade 
to  abate  the  noise,  the  smoke,  and  the  other 
distractions  which  reduce  his  employee's  effec- 
tiveness. In  no  small  measure  he  can  shut 
out  external  noises  and  eliminate  many  of 
those  within.  Loud  dictation,  conversations, 
clicking  typewriters,  loud-ringing  telephones, 
can  all  be  cut  to  a  key  which  makes  them  vir- 
tually indistinguishable  in  an  office  of  any 
size.  More  and  more  the  big  open  office  as 


n6      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

an  absorbent  of  sound  seems  to  be  gaining  in 
favor.  In  one  of  the  newest  and  largest  of 
these  I  know,  nearly  all  the  typewriting  ma- 
chines are  segregated  in  a  glass-walled  room, 
and  long-distance  telephone  messages  can  be 
taken  at  any  instrument  in  the  great  office. 

Like  sound  in  its  imperative  appeal  for  atten- 
tion is  the  consciousness  of  strangers  passing 
one's  desk  or  windows. 

Movement  of  fellow  employees  about  the 
department,  unless  excessive  or  unusual,  is 
hardly  noticed;  let  an  individual  or  a  group 
with  whom  we  are  not  acquainted  come  within 
the  field  of  our  vision,  and  they  claim  attention 
immediately.  For  this  reason  shops  or  fac- 
tories whose  windows  command  a  busy  street 
find  it  profitable  to  use  opaque  glass  to  shut 
out  the  shifting  scene. 

This  scheme  of  retreat  and  protection  has 
been  carried  well-nigh  to  perfection  by  many 
executives.  Private  offices  guarded  by  secre- 
taries fortify  them  against  distractions  and 
unauthorized  claims  on  their  attention,  both 
from  within  and  without  their  organizations. 


Concentration  117 

Routine  problems,  in  administration,  produc- 
tion, distribution,  are  never  referred  to  them ; 
these  are  settled  by  department  heads,  and 
only  new  or  vital  questions  are  submitted  to 
the  executive.  In  many  large  companies, 
besides  the  department  heads  and  secretaries 
who  assume  this  load  of  routine,  there  are 
assistants  to  the  president  and  the  general 
manager  who  further  reduce  the  demands 
upon  their  chiefs.  The  value  of  time,  the 
effect  of  interruptions  and  distractions  upon 
their  own  efficiency,  are  understood  by  count- 
less executives  who  neglect  to  guard  their 
employees  against  similar  distractions. 

Individual  business  men,  unsupported  by 
organizations,  have  worked  out  individual  meth- 
ods of  self -protection. 

One  man  postpones  consideration  of  ques- 
tions of  policy,  selling  conditions,  and  soon  until 
the  business  of  the  day  has  been  finished,  and 
interruptions  from  customers  or  employees  are 
improbable.  Another,  with  his  stenographer, 
reaches  his  office  half  an  hour  earlier  than  his 
organization,  and,  picking  out  the  day's  big 


n8      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

task,  has  it  well  towards  accomplishment 
before  the  usual  distractions  begin.  The  fore- 
most electrical  and  mechanical  engineer  in  the 
country  solves  his  most  difficult  and  abstruse 
problems  at  home,  at  night.  His  organization 
provides  a  perfect  defense  against  interrup- 
tions ;  but  only  in  the  silence,  the  isolation  of 
his  home  at  night,  does  he  find  the  complete 
absence  of  distraction  permitting  the  absolute 
concentration  which  produces  great  results. 

This  chapter  was  prefaced  by  an  instance 
where  protection  from  distractions  through 
organization  was  joined  with  methodical  at- 
tack on  the  elements  of  the  day's  work.  This 
combination  approaches  the  ideal ;  it  is  the 
system  followed  by  nearly  all  the  great  execu- 
tives of  America.  Time  and  attention  are 
equably  allotted  to  the  various  interests, 
the  various  departments  of  effort  which  must 
have  the  big  man's  consideration  during  the 
day.  Analysis  has  determined  how  much  of 
each  is  required ;  appointments  are  made  with 
the  men  who  must  cooperate ;  all  other  matters 
are  pushed  aside  until  a  decision  is  reached; 


Concentration  119 

and  upon  the  completion  of  each  attention  is 
concentrated  on  the  next  task. 

A  striking  instance  of  this  organization  of 
work  and  concentration  upon  a  single  problem 
is  afforded  by  the  "cabinet  meetings"  of  some 
large  corporations  and  the  luncheons  of  groups 
of  powerful  financiers  in  New  York.  There 
are  certain  questions  to  be  settled,  a  definite 
length  of  time  in  which  to  settle  them.  In  the 
order  of  their  importance  they  are  allotted  so 
many  minutes.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time 
a  vote  is  taken,  the  president  or  chairman  an- 
nounces his  decision,  and  the  next  matter  is 
attacked. 

There  is  no  royal  method  of  training  in  con- 
centration. It  is  in  the  main  developed  by 
repeated  acts  of  attention  upon  the  subject  in 
hand. 

If  I  am  anxious  or  need  to  develop  the  power 
of  concentration  upon  what  people  say,  either 
in  conversation  or  in  public  discourse,  I  may 
be  helped  by  persistently  and  continuously 
forcing  myself  to  attend.  The  habit  of  con- 
centration may  to  a  degree  be  thus  acquired ; 


I2O      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

pursuing  it,  I  should  never  allow  myself  to 
listen  indifferently,  but  I  must  force  myself  to 
strict  attention. 

Such  practice  would  result  ultimately  in  a 
habit  of  concentration  upon  what  I  hear, 
but  would  not  necessarily  increase  my  power 
of  concentration  upon  writing,  adding,  or  other 
activities.  Specific  training  in  each  is  essen- 
tial, and  even  then  the  results  will  be  far  short 
of  what  might  be  desired.  Persistent  effort 
in  any  direction  is  not  without  result,  however, 
and  any  increase  in  concentration  is  so  valuable 
that  it  is  worth  the  effort  it  costs.  If  a  man 
lacks  power  of  concentration  in  any  particular 
direction,  he  should  force  concentration  in  that 
line  and  continue  till  a  habit  results. 

Our  control  over  our  muscles  and  move- 
ments far  exceeds  our  direct  control  over  our 
attention.  An  attitude  of  concentration  is 
possible,  even  when  the  desired  mental  process 
is  not  present.  Thus  by  fixing  my  eyes  on  a 
page  and  keeping  them  adjusted  for  reading, 
even  when  my  mind  is  on  a  subject  far  re  moved, 
I  can  help  my  will  to  secure  concentration.  I 


Concentration  121 

can  likewise  restrain  myself  from  picking  up  a 
newspaper  or  from  chatting  with  a  friend  when 
it  is  the  time  for  concentrated  action  on  my 
work.  By  continuously  resisting  movements 
which  tend  to  distract  and  by  holding  myself 
in  the  position  of  attention,  the  strain  upon 
my  will  in  forcing  concentration  becomes  less. 

Concentration  is  practically  impossible  when 
the  brain  is  fagged  or  the  bodily  condition  is  far 
below  the  normal  in  any  respect. 

The  connection  between  the  body  and  the 
mind  is  most  intimate,  and  the  perfect  working 
of  the  body  is  necessary  to  the  highest  efficiency 
of  the  mind.  The  power  of  concentration  is 
accordingly  affected  by  surroundings  in  the 
hours  of  labor,  by  sleep  and  recreation,  by  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  food,  and  by  every 
condition  which  affects  the  bodily  processes 
favorably. 

Recognition  of  this  truth  is  behind  the  very 
general  movement,  both  here  and  abroad,  to 
provide  the  best  possible  conditions  both  in  the 
factories  and  the  home  environment  of  workers. 
Employers  are  coming  more  and  more  to  un- 


122      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

derstand  that  conservation  of  physical  forces 
means  maximum  output.  The  foundation, 
of  course,  is  a  clean,  spacious,  well-lighted,  and 
perfectly  ventilated  factory  in  a  situation  which 
affords  pure  air  and  accessibility  to  the  homes 
of  employees.  In  England  and  Germany  the 
advance  towards  this  ideal  has  taken  form  in 
the  "garden  cities"  of  which  the  plant  is  the 
nucleus  and  the  support.  In  America  there  is 
no  lack  of  industrial  towns  planned  and  built 
as  carefully  as  the  works  to  which  they  are 
tributary. 

Some  have  added  various  "welfare"  fea- 
tures, ranging  from  hot  luncheons  served  at 
cost,  free  baths,  and  medical  attendance  to 
night  schools  for  employees  to  teach  them  how 
to  live  and  work  to  better  advantage.  The 
profit  comes  back  in  the  increased  efficiency 
of  the  employees. 

Even  though  the  health  be  perfect  and  the 
attitude  of  attention  be  sustained  the  will  is 
unable  to  retain  concentration  by  an  effort  for 
more  than  a  few  seconds  at  a  time. 

When  the  mind  is  concentrated  upon  an 


Concentration  1 23 

object,  this  object  must  develop  and  prove 
interesting,  otherwise  there  will  be  required 
every  few  seconds  the  same  tug  of  the  will. 
This  concentration  by  voluntary  attention  is 
essential,  but  cannot  be  permanent.  To  se- 
cure enduring  concentration  we  may  have  to 
"pull  ourselves  together"  occasionally,  but  the 
necessity  for  such  efforts  should  be  reduced. 
This  is  accomplished  by  developing  interest 
in  the  task  before  us,  through  application  of 
the  fundamental  motives  such  as  self-preser- 
vation, imitation,  competition,  loyalty,  and 
the  love  of  the  game. 

If  the  task  before  me  is  essential  for  my 
self-preservation,  I  shall  find  my  mind  riveted 
upon  it.  If  I  hope  to  secure  more  from  specu- 
lation than  from  the  completion  of  my  present 
tasks,  then  my  self-preservation  is  not  de- 
pendent upon  my  work  and  my  mind  will 
irresistibly  be  drawn  to  the  stock  market  and 
the  race  track.  If  I  wish  my  work  to  be 
interesting  and  to  compel  my  undivided  at- 
tention, I  should  then  try  to  make  it  appeal 
to  me  as  of  more  importance  than  anything 


124      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

else  in  the  world.  I  must  be  dependent  upon 
it  for  my  income ;  I  must  see  that  others  are 
working  and  so  imitate  their  action ;  I  must 
compete  with  others  in  the  accomplishment 
of  the  task ;  I  must  regard  the  work  as  a  serv- 
ice to  the  house ;  and  I  must  in  every  possible 
way  try  to  "get  into  the  game." 

This  conversion  of  a  difficult  task  into  an 
interesting  activity  is  the  most  fruitful  method  of 
securing  concentration. 

Efforts  of  will  can  never  be  dispensed  with, 
but  the  necessity  for  such  efforts  should  be 
reduced  to  the  minimum.  The  assumption 
of  the  attitude  of  attention  should  gradually 
become  habitual  during  the  hours  of  work,  and 
so  take  care  of  itself. 

The  methods  which  a  business  man  must 
use  to  cultivate  concentration  in  himself  are 
also  applicable  to  his  employees.  The  manner 
of  applying  the  methods  is,  of  course,  differ- 
ent. The  employer  may  see  to  it  that  as  far  as 
possible  all  distractions  are  removed.  He  can- 
not directly  cause  his  men  to  put  forth  volun- 
tary effort,  but  he  can  see  to  it  that  they  re- 


Concentration  125 

tain  the  attitude  of  concentration.  This  may 
require  the  prohibition  of  acts  which  are  dis- 
tracting but  which  would  otherwise  seem  in- 
different. The  employer  has  a  duty  in  regard 
to  the  health  of  his  men.  Certain  employers 
have  assumed  to  regulate  the  lives  of  their  men 
even  after  the  day's  work  is  over.  Bad  habits 
have  been  prohibited ;  sanitary  conditions  of 
living  have  been  provided;  hours  of  labor 
have  been  reduced;  vacations  have  been 
granted ;  and  sanitary  conditions  in  shop  and 
factory  have  been  provided  for. 

Employers  are  finding  it  to  their  interest  to 
make  concentration  easy  for  their  men  by  render- 
ing their  work  interesting. 

This  they  have  done  by  making  the  work 
seem  worth  while.  The  men  are  given  living 
wages,  the  hope  of  promotion  is  not  too  long 
deferred,  attractive  and  efficient  models  for 
imitation  are  provided,  friendly  competition  is 
encouraged,  loyalty  to  the  house  is  engendered, 
and  love  of  the  work  inculcated.  In  addition, 
everything  which  hinders  the  development  of 
interest  in  the  work  has  been  resisted. 


Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

How  will  a  salesman,  for  instance,  develop 
interest  in  his  work  if  he  makes  more  from  his 
"side  lines"  than  from  the  service  he  renders 
to  the  house  which  pays  his  expenses  ?  How 
can  the  laborer  be  interested  in  his  work  if  he 
believes  that  by  gambling  he  can  make  more 
in  an  hour  than  he  could  by  a  month's  steady 
work  ?  The  successful  shoemaker  sticks  to  his 
last,  the  successful  professional  man  keeps  out 
of  business,  and  the  wise  business  man  resists 
the  temptation  to  speculate.  Occasionally  a 
man  may  be  capable  of  carrying  on  diverse 
lines  of  business  for  himself,  but  the  man  is 
certainly  a  very  great  exception  who  can  hold 
his  attention  to  the  interests  of  his  employer 
when  he  expects  to  receive  greater  rewards 
from  other  sources. 

The  power  of  concentration  depends  in  part 
upon  inheritance  and  in  part  upon  training. 

Some  individuals,  like  an  Edison  or  a  Roose- 
velt, seem  to  be  constructed  after  the  manner  of 
a  searchlight.  All  their  energy  may  be  turned 
in  one  direction  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
disregarded.  Others  are  what  we  call  scatter- 


Concentration  127 

brained.  They  are  unable  to  attend  completely 
to  any  one  thing.  They  respond  constantly 
to  stimulation  in  the  environment  and  to 
ideas  which  seem  to  "pop  up"  in  their  minds. 

Some  people  can  read  a  book  or  paper  with 
perfect  satisfaction,  even  though  companions 
around  them  are  talking  and  laughing.  For 
others,  such  attempts  are  farcical. 

Many  great  men  are  reputed  to  have  had 
marvelous  powers  of  concentration.  When 
engaged  in  their  work,  they  became  so  absorbed 
in  it  that  distracting  thoughts  had  no  access 
to  their  minds,  and  even  hunger,  sleep,  and 
salutations  of  friends  have  frequently  been 
unable  to  divert  the  attention  from  the  absorb- 
ing topic. 

There  are  persons  who  cannot  really  work  ex- 
cept in  the  midst  of  excitement. 

When  surrounded  by  numerous  appeals  to 
attention,  they  get  wakened  up  by  resisting 
these  attractions  and  find  superfluous  energy 
adequate  to  attend  to  the  subject  in  hand. 
This  is  on  the  same  principle  that  governs 
the  effects  of  poisonous  stimulants.  Taken 


128      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

into  the  system,  the  whole  bodily  activity  is 
aroused  in  an  attempt  to  expel  the  poison. 
Some  of  this  abnormally  awakened  energy 
may  be  applied  to  uses  other  than  those  in- 
tended by  nature.  Hence  some  individuals 
are  actually  helped  in  their  work  at  least 
temporarily  by  the  use  of  stimulants.  Most 
of  the  energy  is  of  course  required  to  expel  the 
poison,  and  hence  the  method  of  generating 
the  energy  is  uneconomical. 

The  men  who  find  that  they  can  accomplish 
the  most  work  and  concentrate  themselves 
upon  it  the  most  perfectly  when  in  the  midst 
of  noise  and  confusion  are  paying  a  great  price 
for  the  increase  of  energy,  available  for  profit- 
able work.  To  be  dependent  on  confusion  for 
the  necessary  stimulation  is  abnormal  and  ex- 
pensive. Rapid  exhaustion  and  a  shortened 
life  result.  It  is  a  bad  habit  and  nothing  more. 

Many  persons  seem  able  to  disregard  the  com- 
mon and  necessary  distractions  of  office,  store,  or 
factory.] 

Other  persons  are  so  constituted  that  these 
distractions  can  never  be  overcome.  Such 


Concentration  1 29 

persons  cannot  hear  a  message  through  a  tele- 
phone when  others  in  the  room  are  talking; 
they  cannot  dictate  a  letter  if  a  third  person  is 
within  hearing ;  they  cannot  add  a  column  of 
figures  when  others  are  talking.  Habit  and 
effort  may  reduce  such  disability,  but  in  some 
instances  it  will  never  even  approximately 
eliminate  it.  Such  persons  may  be  very 
efficient  employees,  and  their  inability  to  con- 
centrate in  the  presence  of  distractions  should 
be  respected.  Every  business  man  is  careful 
to  locate  every  piece  of  machinery  where  it 
will  work  best,  but  equal  care  has  not  been 
given  to  locating  men  where  they  may  work  to 
the  greatest  advantage. 

By  inheritance  the  power  of  concentration 
differs  greatly  among  intelligent  persons.  By 
training,  those  with  defective  power  may  im- 
prove, but  will  never  perfect  the  power  to  con- 
centrate amidst  distractions.  To  subject  such 
persons  to  distractions  is  an  unwise  expendi- 
ture of  energy 

Concentration  by  voluntary  attention  should  be 
avoided,  but  concentration  by  secondary  passive 


130      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

attention  cultivated.  Organized  business  inter- 
ests should  eliminate  such  public  nuisances  as 
surface  street  cars,  elevated  trains,  venders  of 
wares,  screeching  newsboys,  smoking  chimneys, 
and  the  like. 

In  individual  establishments  walls  may  be 
deadened  to  sounds,  telephones  may  be  muffled, 
call  bells  may  be  replaced  by  buzzers  with  indi- 
cators, clerks  may  have  other  methods  than 
that  of  calling  aloud  for  "cash"  or  for  floor 
walkers,  typewriters  may  be  massed  with  a 
view  to  reducing  the  general  commotion,  the 
illumination  at  the  desks  may  be  increased, 
discomforts  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
work  may  be  so  systematized  that  only  one 
task  at  a  time  demands  attention. 

At  least  the  attitude  of  concentration  should 
be  habitual.  The  bodily  condition  favorable 
to  the  best  concentration  may  make  profit- 
able such  devices  as  firm  lunch  rooms,  the 
building  of  industrial  villages,  and  so  on. 

Concentration  is  secured  positively  by  bring- 
ing into  activity  the  various  motives  which 
affect  most  powerfully  the  different  individu- 


Concentration  131 

als.  There  should  be  a  universal  taboo  on 
horse  racing  and  all  forms  of  gambling.  Even 
"side  lines"  should  be  completely  discouraged. 
Some  individuals  are  so  hindered  by  the  ordi- 
nary and  necessary  distractions  of  business 
that  special  protection  should  be  granted  to 
them. 


CHAPTER  VI 
WAGES 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

FIFTY  years  ago  works  on  psychology 
were  devoted  largely  to  discussion  of 
ideas  and  of  concepts.  To-day  the 
point  of  emphasis  has  changed,  and  we  are 
now  paying  much  attention  to  a  study  of 
"attitudes."  It  is  doubtless  important  to 
analyze  my  ideas  or  concepts,  but  it  is  of 
much  more  importance  to  know  my  attitudes. 
It  is  vital  to  know  how  to  influence  the  ideas 
of  others ;  but  to  be  able  to  influence  their 
attitudes  is  of  still  greater  significance. 

We  all  know  in  a  general  way  what  we 
mean  by  an  attitude,  but  it  is  difficult  to  define 
or  to  comprehend  it  exactly.  I  have  one  atti- 
tude towards  a  snake  and  a  totally  different 
one  towards  my  students.  If  when  hunting 

13* 


Wages  133 

quail  I  happen  upon  a  little  harmless  snake, 
I  find  that  I  respond  to  the  sight  in  a  most 
absurd  manner.  Dread  and  repulsion  over- 
come me.  I  can  hardly  restrain  myself  from 
killing  the  snake,  even  though  doing  so  will 
frighten  the  birds  I  am  hunting.  I  am  pre- 
disposed to  react  in  a  particular  way  towards 
a  snake.  I  sustain  a  particular  attitude  to- 
wards it. 

In  the  presence  of  my  students  I  find  that  a 
spirit  of  unselfish  devotion  and  a  desire  to  be 
of  assistance  are  likely  to  be  uppermost. 
That  is  to  say,  I  sustain  towards  my  students 
an  attitude  of  helpfulness,  a  predisposition 
to  react  towards  them  in  such  a  way  that  their 
interests  may  be  furthered.  In  fact,  I  find 
that  we  all  take  particular  attitudes  towards 
the  people  we  know  and  towards  every  task  of 
our  lives.  These  attitudes  are  very  significant, 
and  yet  they  are  often  developed  by  circum- 
stances which  made  but  little  apparent  im- 
pression at  the  time,  or  may  have  been  alto- 
gether forgotten.  I  cannot  recall,  for  instance, 
the  experience  of  my  boyhood  which  developed 


134      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

my  present  absurd  attitude  toward  harmless 
snakes. 

When  witnessing  a  play,  my  attitude  of 
suspicion  towards  a  particular  character  may 
have  been  promoted  by  means  of  music  and 
color,  by  means  of  the  total  setting  of  the  play, 
or  by  some  other  means  which  never  seemed  to 
catch  my  attention.  These  concealed  agencies 
threw  me  into  an  attitude  of  suspicion,  even 
while  I  was  not  aware  that  such  a  result  was 
being  attempted. 

This  modern  conception  of  psychology 
teaches  us  that  in  influencing  others  we  are 
not  successful  until  we  have  influenced  their 
attitudes.  Children  in  school  do  not  draw 
patriotism  from  mere  information  about  their 
country.  Patriotism  comes  with  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  proper  attitude  towards  one's 
native  land. 

Success  or  failure  in  business  is  caused  more 
by  mental  attitude  even  than  by  mental  capacities. 

Nothing  but  failure  can  result  from  the 
mental  attitude  which  we  designate  variously 
as  laziness,  indifference,  indolence,  apathy, 


Wages  135 

shiftlessness,  and  lack  of  interest.  All  busi- 
ness successes  are  due  in  part  to  the  attitudes 
which  we  call  industry,  perseverance,  inter- 
est, application,  enthusiasm,  and  diligence. 

In  any  individual,  too,  these  attitudes  may 
not  be  the  same  towards  different  objects 
and  may  be  subject  to  very  profound  changes 
and  developments.  A  schoolboy  is  frequently 
lazy  when  engaged  in  the  study  of  grammar, 
but  industrious  when  at  work  in  manual 
training.  A  young  man  who  is  an  indolent 
bookkeeper  may  prove  to  be  an  indefatigable 
salesman.  Another  who  has  shown  himself 
apathetic  and  indifferent  in  a  subordinate 
position  may  suddenly  wake  up  when  cast 
upon  his  own  responsibility. 

Few  men  of  any  intelligence  can  develop 
the  same  degree  of  interest  in  each  of  several 
tasks.  Personally  I  find  that  my  shiftlessness 
in  regard  to  some  of  my  work  is  appalling. 
Touching  my  main  activities,  however,  I 
judge  that  my  industry  is  above  reproach. 

The  preceding  chapters  (particularly  the 
chapters  on  Imitation,  Competition,  and  Loy- 


136      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

alty)  were  attempts  to  discover  and  to  present 
the  most  effective  motives  or  factors  in  pro- 
ducing in  workers  an  attitude  of  industry. 
Based  on  a  study  of  psychology  and  of  busi- 
ness, methods  were  presented  which  may  be 
utilized  with  but  little  expense  and  yet  are 
effective  in  awakening  instinctive  responses  in 
the  worker  and  hence  greatly  increasing  his 
efficiency.  The  present  chapter  will  deal  with 
an  even  more  effective  means  of  securing  an 
attitude  of  industry  since  it  appeals  to  three 
of  the  most  fundamental  and  irresistible  of 
man's  instincts. 

With  most  of  us  the  degree  of  our  laziness  or 
our  industry  depends  partly  upon  our  affinity 
for  the  work,  but  chiefly  upon  the  motives  which 
stimulate  us. 

For  our  ancestors,  preservation  depended 
upon  their  securing  the  necessary  means  for 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter.  In  the  struggle 
for  existence  only  those  individuals  and  races 
survived  who  were  able  to  secure  these  neces- 
sary articles.  In  climates  and  regions  re- 
moved from  the  tropics  only  the  exceedingly 


Wages  137 

industrious  survived.  In  warm  and  fertile 
lands  those  who  were  relatively  industrious 
managed  to  exist.  Because  of  the  absence  of 
the  necessity  for  clothing  and  because  of  the 
abundance  of  available  food,  races  have  de- 
veloped in  the  tropics  which  are  notoriously 
lazy.  The  human  race,  individually  and  col- 
lectively, *\vorks  only  where  and  when  it  is 
compelled  to. 

The  energetic  races,  those  which  have  ad- 
vanced in  civilization,  live  in  lands  where  the 
struggle  for  existence  has  been  continuous. 
Necessity  is  a  hard  master,  but  its  rule  is  in- 
dispensable to  worthy  achievement.  The  in- 
stinct of  self-preservation  and  the  industrious 
attitude  are  responses  which  the  human  race 
has  learned  to  exercise,  in  the  main,  only  in 
case  of  need.  Self-preservation  is  the  first 
law;  where  life  and  personal  liberty  are 
dependent  upon  industry,  idleness  will  not  be 
found.  Wealth  removes  the  obligation  to 
toil ;  hence  the  poor  boy  often  outdistances 
his  more  favored  brother. 

Individuals  work  for  pay  as  a  means  of 


138      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

self-preservation,  and  unless  that  is  satisfac- 
tory other  motives  have  but  little  weight 
with  them.  The  needs  of  the  self  which  pres- 
ervation demands  are  continuously  increasing. 
The  needs  of  the  American-born  laborer  are 
greater  than  those  of  the  Chinaman.  Re- 
gardless of  this  higher  standard  of  living  and 
the  ever  increasing  number  of  "necessities," 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation  acts  in  con- 
nection with  them  all. 

Almost  without  exception  the  interest  of  work- 
ers centers  in  the  wage.  If  they  could  retain 
their  accustomed  wage  with  less  effort,  they  would 
do  so.  If  the  retention  and  increase  depend  on 
individual  production,  they  will  respond  to  the 
compulsion. 

Every  student  of  psychology  recognizes  the 
fact  that  the  wage  is  more  than  a  means  of 
self-preservation.  Man  is  a  distinctly  social 
creature.  He  has  a  social  self  as  well  as  an 
individual  self.  His  social  self  demands  social 
approval  as  much  as  his  individual  self  de- 
mands bread,  clothing,  and  shelter.  In  our 
present  industrial  system  this  social  distinc- 


Wages  139 

tion  is  most  often  indicated  by  means  of  mone- 
tary reward.  The  laborer  not  only  demands 
that  his  toil  shall  provide  the  means  for  self- 
preservation,  but  he  seeks  through  his  wages 
the  social  distinction  which  he  feels  to  be  his 
due.  His  desire  for  increase  of  wages  is  often 
partly,  and  in  some  instances  mainly,  due  to 
his  craving  for  distinction  or  social  approval. 

In  such  instances  the  wage  is  to  be  thought 
of  as  something  comparable  to  the  score  of  a 
ball  player.  The  desire  for  a  high  score  is 
sufficient  motive  to  beget  the  most  extreme 
exertion,  even  though  the  reward  anticipated 
is  nothing  more  than  a  sign  of  distinction  and 
without  any  relationship  whatever  to  self- 
preservation. 

In  common  with  some  of  the  lower  animals 
man  has  an  instinct  to  collect  and  hoard  all 
sorts  of  things.  This  instinct  is  spoken  of 
in  psychology  as  the  hoarding  or  proprietary 
instinct.  In  performing  instinctive  acts  we 
do  so  with  enthusiasm,  but  blindly.  We  take 
great  delight  in  the  performing  of  the  act, 
even  though  the  ultimate  result  of  the  act 


140      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

may  be  entirely  unknown  to  us.  The  squirrel 
collects  and  stores  nuts  with  great  delight  and 
industry.  He  has  no  idea  of  the  approaching 
winter,  but  gathers  the  nuts  simply  because 
for  him  it  is  the  most  interesting  process  in  his 
experience. 

Most  persons  display  a  like  instinctive 
tendency  to  make  collections  and  hoard  ar- 
ticles. This  is  particularly  apparent  in  col- 
lections of  such  things  as  canceled  postage 
stamps,  discarded  buttons,  pebbles,  sticks, 
magazines,  and  other  non-useful  articles. 

When  this  hoarding  instinct  is  not  controlled 
by  reason  or  checked  by  other  interests,  we 
have  the  miser.  In  a  less  degree,  we  all  share 
with  the  miser  his  hoarding  instinct.  We  all 
like  to  collect  money  just  as  the  squirrel  likes 
to  gather  nuts.  The  octogenarian  continues 
to  collect  money  with  unabated  zeal,  even 
though  he  be  childless.  He  is  probably  not 
aware  that  he  is  collecting  merely  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  collecting. 

Since  the  wage  is  the  means  ordinarily  em- 
ployed to  awaken  in  workers  the  three  instincts 


Wages  141 

of  self-preservation,  of  social  distinction,  and  of 
hoarding,  it  is  not  strange  that  an  industrial 
age  should  regard  it  as  the  chief  means  of  in- 
creasing efficiency. 

The  employer  has  not  attempted  to  discover 
what  instincts  were  appealed  to  by  the  wage, 
or  the  most  economical  method  of  stimulating 
these  instincts.  He  has  not  undervalued  the 
wage  in  securing  efficiency,  but  rather  has 
assumed  that  the  service  secured  must  be  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  amount  expended. 

Such  an  assumption  is  not  warranted. 
Of  two  employers  with  equal  forces  and  pay- 
rolls one  may  receive  much  more  and  better 
service  than  the  other.  It  is  not  a  question 
merely  of  how  much  is  spent  but  how  wisely 
it  is  spent.  The  wage  secures  service  to  the 
degree  in  which  it  awakens  these  fundamental 
instincts  under  consideration. 

It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  other  factors 
than  the  amount  of  money  expended  in  wages 
are  to  be  considered  by  every  employer.  With- 
out increasing  the  pay  roll  he  may  increase  the 
efficiency  of  his  men.  The  employer  who  has 


142      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

determined  the  number  of  men  he  needs  and 
the  wages  he  must  pay  has  only  begun  to  solve 
his  labor  problem. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  present  chapter  a 
large  number  of  business  men  were  interviewed 
personally  or  by  correspondence. 

One  of  the  questions  asked  was  :  "How  do 
you  make  the  most  of  the  wages  paid  your 
men?" 

As  subsidiary  to  this  general  question  three 
other  questions  were  asked  :  "In  paying  them 
do  you  base  the  amount  to  be  received  by  each 
man  upon  a  fixed  salary  ?  By  some  of  the 
men  upon  actual  output  —  commissions  or 
piecework  rates  ?  By  some  upon  a  combina- 
tion including  profit-sharing  or  bonus  ?" 

The  answers  to  these  latter  questions  were 
not  uniform  even  among  employers  engaged 
apparently  in  the  same  business  and  under 
very  similar  conditions.  Some  reported  that 
all  the  methods  suggested  were  used  in  their 
establishment.  Factory  hands  were  employed 
on  piecework  or  on  a  premium  or  bonus  basis 
where  conditions  permitted;  office  assistants 


Wages  143 

on  fixed  salaries ;  department  managers  upon 
a  combination  including  profit  sharing.  The 
results  reported,  however,  were  far  from  uni- 
form. The  astounding  feature  was  the  di- 
versity of  opinion  among  successful  managers 
of  employees.  By  various  houses  one  or  more 
of  the  systems  had  been  tried  under  apparently 
favorable  conditions  and  had  been  discarded. 
On  the  other  hand  each  of  the  systems  was 
advocated  by  equally  successful  business  firms. 

In  judging  of  the  relative  merits  of  fixed 
salaries  as  compared  with  other  methods  the 
experiences  of  individual  firms  offer  no  cer- 
tain data.  The  relative  merits  and  demerits 
are  best  disclosed  by  a  psychological  analysis 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  various  devices 
appeal  to  the  employee's  instincts  and  reason. 

When  wages  are  based  on  commission,  piece 
rate,  or  a  bonus  or  premium  system,  the  stimulus 
to  action  is  constantly  present.  Every  stroke 
of  the  hammer,  every  sale  made,  every  figure 
added,  increases  the  wage.  The  wage  thus  con- 
tinuously beckons  the  worker  to  greater  accom- 
plishment. 


144      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

All  other  considerations  lose  in  importance, 
and  the  mind  becomes  focused  on  output. 
The  worker  is  blinded  to  all  other  motives, 
and  invariably  sacrifices  quality  unless  this 
be  guarded  by  rigid  inspection.  The  piece- 
work or  task  system  thus  influences  the  worker 
directly  and  incessantly  without  regard  for 
the  particular  instinct  to  which  it  may  be  ap- 
pealing. Every  increase  in  rate  adds  directly 
to  the  means  of  self-preservation,  of  social 
distinction,  and  of  the  accumulation  of 
wealth. 

The  worker  with  a  fixed  salary  or  wage  does 
not  feel  as  continuously  the  goad  of  his  wage. 
It  is  less  in  mind  and  does  not  control  his  atti- 
tude toward  his  work.  The  man  on  a  fixed 
salary,  therefore,  will  not  produce  so  much. 

If  he  be  a  workman,  he  may  take  better 
care  of  his  tools,  keep  his  output  up  to  a  higher 
standard  of  quality,  prepare  himself  for  more 
responsible  positions.  If  he  be  a  salesman,  he 
may  be  more  considerate  of  his  customers  and 
hence  really  more  valuable  to  his  employer; 
he  may  be  more  loyal  to  the  house  and  hence 


Wages  145 

promote  the  "team  work"  of  the  organization, 
and  he  may  because  of  his  more  receptive  state 
of  mind  be  preparing  himself  for  much  greater 
usefulness  to  his  house.  If  he  be  a  superin- 
tendent, he  may  be  more  thoughtful  of  his 
men,  or  more  scrupulous  for  the  future  of  the 
business. 

Production  methods  or  labor  conditions 
are  often  such  that  piecework  is  impossible. 
There  are  many  functions  and  processes  which 
thus  far  have  not  been  satisfactorily  adjusted 
to  task  systems  ;  there  are  others  (the  inspec- 
tion service  in  a  factory,  for  instance)  where  a 
premium  on  increased  output  would  defeat 
the  first  purpose  of  the  service.  Where  results 
can  be  accurately  measured,  however,  and  the 
quality  of  the  service  can  be  automatically 
secured  or  is  not  sacrificed  by  concentration 
upon  quantity,  the  task  system  —  whether 
it  take  the  form  of  piece  rates,  premiums,  or 
bonus  —  has  such  superior  psychological  ad- 
vantages that  it  will  probably  come  more  and 
more  into  use. 

Under  the  general  heading  quoted  above  — 


146      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

"How  do  you  make  the  most  of  the  wages 
paid  your  employees  ?"  —  the  following  ques- 
tion was  asked:  "What  special  method  do 
you  employ  to  make  men  satisfied  or  pleased 
with  their  wages  ?"  The  answers  were  most 
interesting  and  instructive.  One  manager 
having  many  thousand  men  in  his  organiza- 
tion narrated  various  methods  by  which  he 
kept  in  personal  touch  with  his  men,  and 
turned  this  personal  relationship  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  house. 

One  illustration  will  make  clear  the  line  he 
pursued.  In  the  card  catalogue  of  the  em- 
ployees, the  birthday  of  each  is  noted,  the 
executive  recognizing  that  for  the  average 
man  this  is  an  anniversary  even  more  impor- 
tant than  New  Year's. 

If  for  any  reason  a  member  of  the  organization 
deserves  or  requires  the  executive's  personal  at- 
tention^ his  birthday  may  be  chosen  as  the  date 
of  the  interview.  Then  whether  the  man  merits 
an  advance  for  extra  good  work  or  needs  help  to 
correct  a  temporary  slump  in  efficiency,  the  re- 
ward or  the  appeal  takes  on  added  meaning 


Wages  147 

because  it  coincides  with  a  turning  point  in  his 
life. 

To  facilitate  the  plan,  the  manager's  file 
of  employment  cards  is  arranged,  not  by 
initials  or  departments,  but  by  birthdays. 
Each  workman's  name  falls  under  his  eye  a 
few  days  in  advance,  long  enough  to  secure 
a  report  from  his  foreman,  if  knowledge  is 
lacking  of  his  progress. 

As  I  entered  this  manager's  office,  I  met  a 
young  man  coming  out.  He  had  been  in  the 
company's  employ  only  a  few  months  and  his 
relations  with  the  organization  had  not  yet 
been  established.  Asked  for  a  report,  his 
foreman  gave  him  a  good  record  and  recom- 
mended a  small  advance.  Imagine  the  sur- 
prise, the  instant  access  of  pride  and  loyalty, 
the  impulse  towards  greater  effort  and  effi- 
ciency, when  the  young  man  was  called  into  the 
manager's  office  on  his  birthday,  congratulated 
on  his  record,  and  informed  that  he  would  start 
his  new  year  with  an  advance  in  wages. 
Double  the  advance,  if  allowed  in  the  usual 
way,  would  not  have  so  impressed  and  satisfied 


148      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

him.  The  increased  wage  made  its  appeal  di- 
rect to  the  instinct  for  social  recognition,  and 
hence  was  very  effective. 

Such  a  method  does  not  admit  of  general 
application.  Practiced  in  cold  blood,  it  might 
even  be  harmful.  But  in  this  case,  it  struck 
me  not  as  an  act  of  selfish  cleverness,  but  as 
the  expression  of  a  real  sympathy  and  inter- 
est which  the  manager  felt  for  his  men.  The 
cleverness  lay  in  the  recognition  that  no  man  is 
ever  so  susceptible  to  counsel,  to  appreciation, 
or  to  rebuke  as  on  his  birthday,  when  the  social 
self  is  especially  alert. 

In  other  organizations,  the  effort  to  extend 
this  factor  of  human  sympathy  to  each  worker 
and  to  see  that  full  justice  is  rendered  to  him 
takes  the  form  of  a  department  of  promotion 
and  discharge.  The  head  is  the  direct  repre- 
sentative of  the  "front  office"  and  is  inde- 
pendent of  superintendents  and  foremen.  No 
man  can  be  "paid  off"  until  the  facts  have  been 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  this  depart- 
ment. Here  also  the  man  may  present  his  case 
to  an  unprejudiced  and  sympathetic  arbiter. 


Wages  149 

In  actual  practice  the  man  "paid  off"  is 
sometimes  retained  and  the  foreman,  on  the  evi- 
dence of  prejudice,  bad  temper,  or  other  incom- 
petency,  is  discharged.  In  consequence  every 
workman  knows  that  his  place  does  not  depend 
upon  the  whim  of  his  immediate  superior,  but 
that  faithful  service  will  certainly  be  recognized. 

Furthermore,  this  department  assumes  the 
task  of  shifting  men  from  one  department  to 
another  and  thus  minimizing  the  misfits  which 
lower  the  efficiency  of  the  whole  organization. 
Records  of  each  man's  performance  are  kept, 
and  promotions  and  discharge  are  more  nearly 
in  accord  with  facts  than  would  be  possible  in 
a  large  house  without  some  such  agency.  In 
too  many  big  establishments  the  individual 
feels  that  he  does  not  count  in  the  crowd  and 
that  he  is  helpless  to  do  anything  to  advance 
himself  or  to  protect  himself  against  an  antago- 
nistic foreman.  In  large  measure,  such  a  de- 
partment reduces  this  feeling  and  bridges  the 
chasm  between  the  men  and  the  firm. 

In  its  effect  on  the  attitude  and  efficiency 
of  employees,  the  method  of  fixing  and  ad- 


150     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

justing  wages  is  no  less  important  than  the 
wages  themselves.  The  steady  trend  of  the 
labor  market  has  been  upward  and  always  up- 
ward ;  it  is  one  of  the  notable  achievements  of 
trade  and  industry  that  this  constant  appre- 
ciation in  the  price  of  man  power  has  been 
neutralized  by  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  its 
application.  This  increase  in  earning  capacity 
has  been  secured  not  alone  by  the  development 
of  automatic  machinery,  but  by  the  division 
of  labor,  the  subdivision  of  processes,  and  the 
education  of  workers  to  accept  the  new  meth- 
ods, and  acquire  expert  skill  in  some  specialty. 
Hardly  a  generation  has  passed  since  one 
man,  or  perhaps  two  working  together,  built 
farm  wagons,  steam  engines,  and  a  thousand 
other  articles  entire.  Now  a  hundred  me- 
chanics or  machine  tenders  may  have  con- 
tributed to  either  wagon  or  engine  before 
it  reaches  the  shipping  department.  Three 
fourths  of  these  workers  are  paid  piece  rates. 
The  substitution  of  these  piece  rates  for  day 
wages,  the  striking  of  a  satisfactory  balance 
between  production  and  compensation,  and 


Wages  151 

the  endless  changes  in  the  scale  as  new  parts 
or  faster  or  simpler  processes  are  invented  — 
have  all  been  operations  in  which  the  tact  and 
man-handling  skill  of  executives  have  played  a 
significant  part. 

In  the  larger  organization  this  knowledge  or 
skill  is  often  supplied  by  a  manager  who  has 
"come  up  through  the  ranks"  and  has  not 
forgotten  his  journeyman's  dexterity  on  the 
way  or  neglected  to  keep  in  touch  with  im- 
proved methods. 

Frequently  the  advantage  of  a  small  industry 
or  trading  venture  over  its  larger  rivals  depends 
on  the  owner's  mastery  of  all  the  processes  or 
conditions  involved  and  his  ability  to  deal  with 
his  employees  on  a  personal  plane  in  fixing 
wages  or  in  establishing  the  standard  day's  work. 

In  a  stove  factory  where  four  fifths  of  the 
processes  are  paid  by  piece  rates,  it  was  neces- 
sary, not  long  ago,  to  fix  the  remuneration  for 
the  assembling  of  a  new  type  of  range.  Most 
of  the  operations  were  standard ;  the  work- 
men and  the  management  differed,  however, 
on  what  should  be  paid  for  the  setting  and  fas- 


152      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

tening  of  a  back  piece  with  seventeen  bolts. 
The  men  asked  fifteen  cents  a  range.  When  re- 
fused, they  named  twelve  cents  as  an  ultima- 
tum. The  company  was  willing  neither  to  pay 
such  a  price  nor  to  antagonize  the  workmen. 

The  dispute  was  settled  by  a  demonstration. 
The  superintendent  was  himself  a  graduate 
from  the  bench  and  had  been  an  expert  work- 
man. The  company's  contract  with  the  assem- 
blers' union  set  $4.50  a  day  as  the  maximum 
wage.  To  prove  his  contention  that  even 
twelve  cents  was  too  great  a  price,  he  set  the 
back  pieces  on  ten  ranges  himself,  under  the 
eyes  of  a  committee,  and  proved  that  at  six 
cents  a  range  he  could  easily  earn  the  maxi- 
mum day  wage.  The  price  agreed  upon  was 
eight  cents,  little  more  than  half  the  original 
demand.  Without  the  demonstration  the 
men  would  have  accepted  twelve  cents  reluc- 
tantly. 

In  the  course  of  the  interviews  with  em- 
ployers, it  became  evident  that  there  was 
agreement  on  one  point  —  to  educate  the 
worker  to  realize  that  the  house's  policy  in 


Wages  1 53 

handling  its  men  gave  added  value  to  the 
sums  paid  out  in  wages. 

The  shiftless  or  unskilled  man  works  mainly 
for  the  next  pay  envelope,  with  little  or  no  regard 
for  the  continuity  of  employment,  the  possibil- 
ity of  promotion,  of  pension,  of  sick  or  accident 
benefits,  of  working  conditions,  or  the  like. 

The  skilled  worker,  on  the  contrary,  and  the 
more  desirable  class  of  laborers,  nearly  always 
rate  their  wages  above  or  below  par,  according 
to  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  these  con- 
tingent benefits  or  emoluments. 

To  the  average  man  with  a  family,  the 
"steady  job"  at  fair  wages  is  the  first  con- 
sideration. It  appeals  more  strongly  to  him 
than  intermittent  employment  at  a  much 
higher  rate ;  while  the  younger,  restless,  and 
less  dependable  man,  both  skilled  and  unskilled, 
gravitates  to  the  shop  where  he  can  command 
a  premium  for  a  little  while.  Just  as  managers 
are  always  looking  for  the  steady  worker, 
nearly  all  agree  in  assuring  their  employees 
that  faithful  and  efficient  service  will  be  re- 
warded with  continuous  employment. 


154      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

To  carry  out  this  policy  is  sometimes  diffi- 
cult in  businesses  where  demand  is  seasonal 
and  where  a  large  part  of  the  product  must 
be  made  to  order.  Nevertheless,  the  manager 
who  adjusts  his  production  program  to  cover 
the  entire  year  has  the  choice  of  the  best 
workers  even  when  other  factories  offer  higher 
rates.  Likewise,  the  employer  who  sacrifices 
his  profit  in  bad  years  to  "take  care  of  his 
men"  and  hold  his  organization  together  re- 
covers his  losses  when  the  revival  comes. 

So  deeply  rooted  is  this  desire  for  a  "steady 
job"  and  so  generally  recognized  as  an  essential 
of  the  labor  problem  that  several  large  indus- 
tries have  developed  "side  lines"  to  which 
they  can  turn  their  organization  during  their 
slack  seasons ;  while  others  in  periods  of  de- 
pression pile  up  huge  stocks  of  standard  prod- 
ucts, making  heavy  investments  of  capital, 
for  the  primary  purpose  of  keeping  their  men 
employed. 

How  such  a  policy  reacts  on  the  wage  ques- 
tion, and  hence  on  the  efficiency  of  employees, 
is  shown  by  an  instance  which  lately  fell  under 


Wages  155 

my  notice.  By  a  long  and  persistent  campaign 
of  education  and  demonstration,  a  small  "qual- 
ity" house  forced  a  rival  ten  times  as  large 
to  adopt  the  careful  processes  on  which  this 
quality  depended.  Adopting  the  small  man's 
methods,  the  competitor,  instead  of  training  its 
own  operatives  to  the  new  standards,  sought 
to  hire  the  other  man's  skilled  workers.  The 
premium  offered  was  a  thirty  per  cent  advance. 
It  was  refused,  however.  The  tempted  me- 
chanics, analyzing  the  rival's  proposal,  hit  on 
the  disloyalty  contemplated  towards  its  own 
employees.  They  were  to  be  discharged  or 
transferred  to  other  departments  to  make 
room  for  the  new  men. 

Measuring  this  cold-blooded  policy  against 
the  consideration,  the  unfailing  effort  of  their 
old  employer  to  "take  care  of  them"  in  bad 
seasons,  the  workers  decided  to  stick  to  the 
smaller  company  and  refuse  the  advance. 

Next  to  continuous  employment,  among  meth- 
ods of  increasing  the  value  of  wages,  is  the  policy 
of  making  promotions  from  the  ranks. 

This  practice  seems  to  be  commonly  ac- 


156      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

cepted  as  fruitful,  although  many  firms  be- 
lieve it  impossible  of  application  in  filling  some 
of  the  higher  as  well  as  some  of  the  more  tech- 
nical positions.  Where  the  system  is  appli- 
cable, it  acts  as  a  powerful  stimulus  to  the 
men  by  adding  to  their  present  wages  the 
promise  or  possibility  of  better  positions  and 
higher  pay  in  the  future.  It  gives  assurance  of 
promotion  for  faithful  service  much  greater 
than  in  houses  which  fill  the  upper  positions 
from  outside  sources  on  the  assumption  that 
they  thus  get  "new  blood"  into  the  business. 
The  men  secured  from  outside  may  be  more 
skilled  or  more  productive  of  immediate  re- 
sults than  any  available  in  the  house  organi- 
zation. By  their  importation,  however,  the 
wages  of  all  the  men  aspiring  to  the  position 
have  been  cheapened.  Nor  does  the  evil  stop 
there. 

The  assumption  is  naturally  drawn  that  the 
same  practice  is  likely  to  be  followed  in  filling 
other  vacancies.  The  stimulus  to  initiative  and 
activity  is  thus  weakened  for  men  in  every  grade 
and  their  wages  are  shrunk  below  par. 


Wages  1 57 

The  importance  which  some  successful  em- 
ployers attach  to  this  principle  of  promotion 
from  the  ranks  is  well  illustrated  by  an  incident 
which  recently  occurred  in  a  large  manufac- 
turing establishment  organized  on  a  one-man 
basis.  During  the  president's  absence  it  was 
decided  to  open  up  a  new  zone  of  trade  for  a 
new  product.  No  one  in  the  organization 
knew  the  product  and  the  field,  so  a  new  man 
was  put  in  charge.  The  work  progressed 
surprisingly  well ;  the  enterprise  was  in  every 
way  successful. 

When  the  real  head  returned,  he  called  his 
managers  together  and  told  them  that  the 
new  man  must  be  removed  and  the  most  deserv- 
ing man  in  the  regular  organization  appointed 
in  his  place.  He  was  met  with  the  protest 
that  no  employee  was  capable  of  taking  up  the 
work  and  reminded  that  the  new  man  had 
already  achieved  great  success.  The  president 
answered  that  he  was  willing  to  lose  money 
in  the  department  for  the  first  year  rather  than 
cheapen  and  disorganize  the  service  by  taking 
away  the  certainty  of  promotion  and  by  re- 


158      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

moving  the  incentive  to  study  and  self-devel- 
opment which  had  increased  the  efficiency  of 
every  ambitious  employee. 

Innumerable  examples  of  the  same  prin- 
ciple in  promotions  could  be  gleaned  from  the 
records  of  some  of  the  oldest  and  most  pro- 
gressive houses  in  the  country.  In  one  es- 
tablishment visited,  the  quality  of  whose  wares 
is  strenuously  guarded,  it  was  discovered  that 
the  chemist  and  metallurgist  in  charge  of  the 
factory  laboratory  had  been  lifted  out  of  one 
of  the  departments  and  supplied  with  the 
money  to  take  a  specialized  course  in  physics, 
chemistry,  and  metallurgy.  The  advertising 
manager,  the  factory  engineer,  and  two  or  three 
of  the  foremen  had  been  given  leaves  of  ab- 
sence to  study  and  fit  themselves  for  the  posi- 
tions to  which  their  talents  and  inclinations 
drew  them.  Even  among  the  workmen  there 
was  a  fixed  basis  for  advancement  towards  the 
better  jobs  and  the  higher  rates,  dependent  on 
satisfactory  service  and  output. 

To  these  major  considerations  in  increasing 
the  worth  of  wages,  those  companies  which 


Wages  159 

have  given  the  longest  attention  to  the  prob- 
lem add  many  other  inducements. 

An  efficient  and  contented  employee  has  a 
positive  money  value  to  any  employer.  To  hold 
him  and  keep  him  efficient,  his  personal  com- 
fort and  needs  should  be  considered  in  every  way 
not  detrimental  to  the  company's  interests. 

As  nearly  as  possible,  the  ideal  in  factory 
location  and  construction  is  approached.  Some 
industries  have  removed  bodily  to  country 
towns,  less  for  the  sake  of  a  cheap  site  than 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  themselves 
where  housing  conditions  for  workers  were 
good,  rents  low,  the  cost  of  living  cheaper,  and 
other  factors  tending  to  add  value  to  every  dollar 
paid  in  wages  were  present.  Direct  appeal 
was  made  to  the  intelligence  of  employees, 
whose  health  is  part  of  their  capital,  by  making 
and  keeping  working  conditions  as  healthful 
and  sanitary,  as  little  taxing  on  eyesight  and 
bodily  vigor  as  circumstances  and  judicious 
investment  of  capital  allowed.  Scores  of 
towns  have  been  built  outright,  to  benefit 
employees. 


160      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

In  line  with  this  policy  are  the  systems  of 
benefit  insurance  for  accident  and  sickness 
maintained  and  partly  supported  by  many 
companies ;  the  pension  systems  which  have 
been  adopted  within  the  last  few  years  by 
some  of  the  greatest  and  most  progressive 
companies  in  America ;  the  free  medical  serv- 
ice, both  in  case  of  factory  accidents  and 
sickness  at  home,  which  other  firms  provide 
for  employees ;  and  various  other  activities 
contributing  to  the  welfare  of  workers,  both 
during  working  hours  and  afterwards. 

Employers  are  coming  more  and  more  to 
see  that  this  is  the  case  and  to  devote  both 
thought  and  money  to  the  elimination  of  con- 
ditions which  cut  wages  below  par. 

Whatever  reduces  hazard,  discomfort,  loss  of 
time,  uncertainty,  or  the  cost  of  living  for  workers 
adds  value  to  their  wages  and  is  a  means  of 
influencing  their  attitude  towards  the  company. 

Some  employers  are  continually  exercised 
to  keep  the  wages  of  their  men  from  falling 
below  par.  Others  are  equally  solicitous  that 
their  men  may  regard  their  wages  as  above 


Wages  161 

par.  This  classification  is  a  real  one  and  was 
made  plain  by  some  of  the  interviews  referred 
to  above.  Thus  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"What  special  method  do  you  employ  to  make 
men  satisfied  or  pleased  with  their  wages  ?" 
one  employer  immediately  put  his  own  inter- 
pretation on  the  question.  To  him  it  meant, 
"What  method  do  you  employ  to  keep  your 
men  from  being  dissatisfied  with  their  wages  ? " 

His  answer  was:  "By  paying  them  some- 
where near  what  they  ask  or  expect.  If  we 
don't,"  he  added,  "they  go  out  on  strike  and 
we  have  to  compromise." 

The  majority  of  successful  employers  have 
advanced  beyond  this  negative,  defensive 
attitude  and  take  a  positive  and  aggressive 
position  in  dealing  with  the  problem. 

Instead  of  assuming  their  work  accomplished 
when  the  men  are  not  dissatisfied  or  rebellious, 
they  do  not  rest  until  every  dollar  paid  out  in 
wages  is  above  par  in  its  influence  upon  effi- 
ciency. 

Thus  in  innumerable  ways  the  progressive 
employer  increases  the  value  of  all  wages  he 


1 62      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

pays  by  making  them  appeal  to  the  reason 
and  to  the  instincts  of  workers  in  a  way  un- 
dreamed of  by  less  enlightened  men.  The 
purpose  of  wages  is  to  produce  a  certain  psy- 
chological effect  and  to  promote  the  most 
favorable  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  worker. 
The  methods  of  increasing  the  purchasing  power 
of  money  thus  spent  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting and  yet  complex  problems  which  the 
business  man  has  to  face. 

This  chapter  shows  the  psychological  ground 
for  the  following  statements  :  — 

Employees  differ  in  their  response  to  piece- 
work rates  and  to  salaries.  Some  respond 
more  satisfactorily  to  one  and  some  to  the 
other. 

When  the  development  of  men  for  better 
positions  is  of  prime  importance,  the  piece- 
work system  is  not  to  be  adopted.  If  the 
quantity  of  work  per  unit  of  wage  is  of  great- 
est importance,  then  some  form  of  wage  other 
than  fixed  salary  should  be  used. 

An  employee  should  not  be  dismissed  as 
hopelessly  lazy  till  he  has  shown  this  attitude 


Wages  163 

in  more  than  one  department  or  has  failed  to 
respond  to  different  forms  of  stimulation. 

Changes  in  wages  may  often  be  placed  under 
the  authority  of  some  person  or  committee 
other  than  the  immediate  superiors  of  the 
employees  involved.  This  authority  may  be 
vested  in  the  direct  representatives  of  the 
executives  or  in  such  a  committee  as  would 
be  formed  by  representatives  of  the  executives 
and  also  employees  from  the  different  depart- 
ments of  the  establishment. 

Payment  of  wages,  so  far  as  possible,  should 
be  made  to  appeal  to  the  instincts  for  social  dis- 
tinction and  for  acquisition  as  well  as  to  the  in- 
stinct for  self-preservation. 

Wages  should  never  be  reduced  without  a 
tactful  and  sincere  attempt  to  convince  the 
men  of  the  necessity  of  such  an  act. 

Increase  in  wages  may  well  be  made  a  per- 
sonal matter.  Some  firms,  however,  are  most 
successful  with  a  mechanical  wage  system  in 
which  employees  know  exactly  the  conditions 
necessary  for  an  increase  in  wages. 

All  work  should  be  thoroughly  supervised 


164      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

and  inspected  so  that  employees  know  that 
good  service  will  be  recognized  and  rewarded. 

The  policy  of  filling  all  positions  from  the 
ranks  seems  growing  in  favor,  since  it  gives 
certain  hope  for  advancement  and  hence 
greater  satisfaction  with  the  present  wage. 

The  wage  may  well  include  a  tacit  insurance 
for  the  future.  Employees  should  be  assured 
that  so  long  as  they  remain  faithful  to  the 
firm,  their  work  and  pay  will  continue,  and 
that  in  accident  or  old  age  they  will  be  pro- 
vided for.  Accepted  thus,  the  wage  secures 
increased  service. 


CHAPTER  VII 
PLEASURE 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

TO  prevent  the  usual  "summer  slump" 
in  output,  the  manager  of  a  factory 
employing  a  hundred  or  more  sewing 
girls  on  piecework  tried  various  methods. 
He  began  with  closer  individual  supervision 
by  the  forewomen.  He  set  up  a  bulletin 
board  and  posted  daily  the  names  of  the  five 
highest  operators.  He  added  small  cash  prizes 
weekly.  He  adopted  a  modified  bonus  sys- 
tem framed  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the 
established  average  of  winter  tasks.  With 
each  his  success  was  only  partial.  Ten  or  a 
dozen  of  the  more  energetic  girls  responded  to 
the  stimulus ;  on  the  majority  the  effect  was 
slight. 

The  problem  was  serious.     June,  July,  and 
August  comprised  the  season  when  his  prod- 

165 


1 66      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

ucts  were  at  a  premium,  when  future  orders 
were  frequently  lost  because  partial  deliveries 
could  not  be  made  immediately.  Studying 
the  question,  he  noted  specifically,  what  he 
already  knew,  that  the  output  dropped  as  the 
temperature  rose.  A  cool  day  sandwiched 
into  a  week  of  hot  weather  frequently  equaled 
the  best  winter  records.  This  fact,  coupled 
with  the  observation  that  the  spirit  of  his 
working  force  seemed  to  change  with  the 
change  of  temperature  from  warm  to  cold, 
helped  him  to  arrive  at  the  right  solution. 

He  made  the  discovery  sitting  in  the  draught 
of  an  electric  fan.  He  looked  up,  made  a 
mental  note ;  and  next  morning  he  moved  his 
office  "comforter"  out  to  the  head  of  one  file  of 
machines.  The  draught  tangled  the  goods 
under  the  seamstresses'  hands  at  times,  but 
the  half  dozen  girls  within  range  showed  a 
decided  increase  in  production  over  the  day 
before  and  over  operators  at  other  tables. 

He  had  found  his  remedy  for  the  summer 
slump.  Within  a  week  he  had  installed  a 
system  of  large  overhead  fans  and  an  exhaust 


Pleasure  1 67 

blower  and  saw  his  production  figures  mount 
to  the  winter's  best  average.  From  careless, 
indifferent  workers,  on  edge  at  trifles  and  diffi- 
cult to  hold,  his  force  developed  steadiness 
and  efficiency.  Not  only  was  the  output 
increased  twenty  per  cent  over  previous 
summers,  but  the  proportion  of  spoiled  work 
was  considerably  reduced. 

One  of  the  women  who  had  been  a  subject 
of  the  first  day's  experiment  struck  close  to 
the  reason  of  her  greater  efficiency  in  her 
off-hand  answer  to  his  inquiry. 

"It  was  a  pleasure  to  work  to-day.  It  was 
so  comfortable  after  yesterday  you  just  forgot 
the  other  girls,  forgot  you  wanted  to  rest, 
forgot  everything  but  the  seams  you  were 
running  and  the  fact  that  it  was  a  big  day. 
I'm  not  near  so  tired  as  usual  either." 

A  successful  day  is  likely  to  be  a  restful  one, 
an  unsuccessful  day  an  exhausting  one.  The 
man  who  is  greatly  interested  in  his  work  and 
who  finds  delight  in  overcoming  the  difficulties 
of  his  calling  is  not  likely  to  become  so  tired  as 
the  man  for  whom  the  work  is  a  burden. 


1 68      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

The  experience  related  summarizes  the 
experience  of  every  worker  who  has  studied, 
either  on  his  own  initiative  or  at  some  other's 
instance,  the  effect  upon  output  secured  by 
the  removal  of  distressing  or  displeasing  condi- 
tions from  the  workroom. 

The  man  who  has  been  engaged  in  intellec- 
tual or  manual  labor  finds  himself  more  or  less 
exhausted  when  the  day's  work  is  done.  The 
degree  of  exhaustion  varies  greatly  from  day 
to  day  and  is  not  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  energy  expended  or  the  results 
attained.  A  comparatively  busy  day  may 
leave  him  feeling  fresh,  while  at  the  end  of  a 
day  much  less  occupied  he  may  be  utterly 
"dragged  out"  and  weary. 

Some  men  habitually  find  themselves  fa- 
tigued, while  others  ordinarily  end  the  day 
with  a  feeling  of  vigor.  These  contrary 
effects  are  not  necessarily  due  primarily 
to  disparity  in  the  amount  of  energy  spent 
or  to  unequal  stores  of  energy  available. 
The  discrepancy  in  many  instances  is  due  to 
diverse  attitudes  toward  the  work  or  varying 


Pleasure  1 69 

degrees  of  success  which  has  attended  the 
work. 

Pleasure  secured  in  and  from  work  is  the 
best  preventive  and  balm  for  tired  muscles 
and  jaded  brains.  Dislike  or  discomfort,  on 
the  other  hand,  adds  to  toil  by  sapping  the 
strength  of  the  worker. 

Victory  in  intercollegiate  athletic  events 
depends  on  will  power  and  physical  endur- 
ance. This  is  particularly  apparent  in  foot- 
ball. Frequently  it  is  not  the  team  with  the 
greater  muscular  development  or  speed  of 
foot  that  wins  the  victory,  but  the  one  with  the 
more  grit  and  perseverance.  At  the  conclusion 
of  a  game  players  are  often  unable  to  walk  from 
the  field  and  need  to  be  carried.  Occasionally 
the  winning  team  has  actually  worked  the 
harder  and  received  the  more  serious  in- 
juries. Regardless  of  this  fact,  it  is  usually 
true  that  the  victorious  team  leaves  the 
field  less  jaded  than  the  conquered  team. 
Furthermore  the  winners  will  report  next  day 
refreshed  and  ready  for  further  training, 
while  the  losers  may  require  several  days  to 


170      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

overcome  the  shock  and  exhaustion  of  their 
defeat. 

Recently  I  had  a  very  hard  contest  at  tennis. 
Some  hours  after  the  game  I  was  still  too  tired 
to  do  effective  work.  I  wondered  why,  until 
I  remembered  that  I  had  been  thoroughly 
beaten,  and  that,  too,  by  an  opponent  whom  I 
felt  I  outclassed.  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
playing  even  harder  contests  and  ordinarily 
with  no  discomfort  —  especially  when  suc- 
cessful in  winning  the  match. 

What  I  have  found  so  apparent  in  physical 
exertion  is  equally  true  in  intellectual  labor. 
Writing  or  research  work  which  progresses 
satisfactorily  leaves  me  relatively  fresh ;  un- 
successful efforts  bring  their  aftermath  of 
weariness. 

Intellectual  work  which  is  pleasant  is  stimu- 
lating and  does  not  fag  one,  while  intellectual 
work  which  is  uninteresting  or  displeasing  is 
depressing  and  exhausting. 

We  can  readily  trace  the  source  of  energy 
in  mechanical  devices.  The  hands  of  a  clock 
continue  in  their  course  because  of  the  energy 


Pleasure  171 

locked  up  in  a  compressed  spring  or  elevated 
weight.  The  gun  projects  the  bullet  because 
of  the  sudden  chemical  union  of  carbon  with 
saltpeter  and  sulphur.  The  steam  engine 
takes  its  energy  from  the  steam  secured  by 
combustion  of  coal  or  other  fuel. 

The  work  of  the  human  organism  is  usually 
classified  as  muscular  or  intellectual.  In 
either  the  expenditure  of  energy  is  as  de- 
pendent upon  known  causes  as  is  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  mechanical  devices  mentioned 
above. 

Every  muscular  activity  is  dependent  upon 
muscular  cells  ready  for  combustion ;  with- 
out such  combustion  no  muscular  work  is 
performed. 

Every  intellectual  process  is  likewise  de- 
pendent upon  brain  cells  ready  for  combustion, 
and  no  intellectual  work  can  be  performed 
without  combustion  of  these  brain  cells. 

To  secure  continued  activity  the  clock  must 
be  rewound,  the  r  i  must  be  recharged,  more 
coal  must  be  -d  to  the  engine.  In  like 

manner  t^  .  non  of  muscular  and  in- 


172      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

tellectual  activity  depends  upon  the  restora- 
tion of  muscle  and  brain  cells.  The  necessity 
for  renewal  is  greater  or  less  according  to  the 
amount  stored  in  reserve  and  the  rapidity  of 
consumption.  A  maximum  head  of  steam 
may  keep  the  engine  running  for  a  long  time 
unless  the  load  is  too  heavy  or  the  speed  too 
great.  Though  under  certain  conditions  the 
amount  of  muscle  and  brain  energy  stored  in 
reserve  is  large,  continuous  or  rapid  activity  of 
necessity  expends  the  reserve  and  leads  to 
exhaustion. 

It  is  a  simple  process  to  rewind  the  clock, 
to  reload  the  gun,  and  to  replenish  the  fuel. 
To  restore  muscular  and  nerve  cells  is  a  very 
delicate  process.  So  wonderful  is  the  human 
organism,  however,  that  the  process  is  carried 
on  perfectly  without  our  consciousness  or 
volition  except  under  abnormal  conditions. 

Food  and  air  are  the  first  essentials  of  this 
restoration.  Indirectly  the  perfect  working  of 
all  the  bodily  organs  contribute  to  the  pro- 
cess —  especially  deepened  breathing,  height- 
ened pulse,  and  increase  of  bodily  volume  due 


Pleasure  1 73 

to  the  expansion  of  the  blood  vessels  running 
just  beneath  the  skin. 

Here  pleasure  enters.  Its  effect  on  the  ex- 
penditure of  energy  is  to  make  muscle  and  brain 
cells  more  available  for  consumption,  and  par- 
ticularly to  hasten  the  process  of  restoration  or 
recuperation. 

The  deepened  breathing  supplies  more  air 
for  the  oxidation  of  body  wastes.  The  height- 
ened pulse  carries  nourishment  more  rapidly 
to  the  depleted  tissues  and  relieves  the  tissues 
more  rapidly  from  the  poisonous  wastes  pro- 
duced by  work.  The  body,  the  machine, 
runs  more  smoothly,  and  fewer  stops  for  re- 
pairs are  made  necessary. 

In  addition  to  these  specific  functions, 
pleasure  hastens  all  the  bodily  processes  which 
are  of  advantage  to  the  organism.  The  hasten- 
ing may  be  so  great  that  recuperation  keeps 
pace  with  the  consumption  consequent  on 
efficient  labor,  with  the  result  that  there  is 
little  or  no  exhaustion.  This  is  in  physiologi- 
cal terms  the  reason  why  a  person  can  do  more 
when  he  "enjoys"  his  work  or  play,  and  can 


174      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

continue  his  efforts  for  a  longer  period  without 
fatigue.  The  man  who  enjoys  his  work  re- 
quires less  time  for  recreation  and  exercise,  for 
his  enjoyment  recharges  the  storage  battery  of 
energy. 

Not  only  can  I  endure  more  and  achieve 
more  when  I  take  pleasure  in  the  task,  but  I 
can  also  secure  better  results  from  others  by 
providing  for  their  interest  and  for  their  pleas- 
ure in  what  they  are  doing.  This  is  a  fact 
which  wise  merchants  and  employers  have 
felt  intuitively,  but  in  most  instances  the 
principle  has  not  been  consciously  formulated. 
High-grade  stores  do  much  to  add  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  their  customers.  Every  resource  of  art 
and  architecture  is  employed  to  make  store 
rooms  appeal  to  the  aesthetic  sense  and  the 
appreciation  of  customers.  Clerks  are  in- 
structed to  be  obliging  and  courteous.  Em- 
ployees are  not  allowed  to  dress  in  a  style 
likely  to  offend  a  customer  and  they  are 
schooled  in  manners  and  in  speech.  Space 
is  devoted  to  the  convenience  and  comfort 
of  customers. 


Pleasure  175 

The  most  successful  establishments  in  the 
world  are  the  ones  which  do  most  to  please  their 
patrons  —  not  by  cutting  prices  or  simply  by 
supplying  better  goods,  but  by  expediting  and 
making  more  pleasant  the  purchase  of  goods. 

They  have  discovered  that  customers  in- 
ducted into  a  beautiful  shop  and  surrounded 
by  tactful  obliging  clerks  are  more  willing  to 
buy  and  are  more  likely  to  be  satisfied  with 
what  they  purchase.  By  adding  to  their  pa- 
trons' comfort  and  pleasure  they  are  able  to 
accomplish  more  than  by  any  other  selling 
argument.  In  like  manner,  restaurants  and 
hotels  have  learned  that  splendid  rooms,  flow- 
ers, spotless  linen,  well-dressed  and  courteous 
waiters,  good  furniture,  and  so  on,  all  attract 
customers  and  induce  them  to  order  more 
generously. 

Lawyers  find  in  trying  cases  that  it  is  quite 
essential  to  regard  the  mood  of  clients,  juries, 
and  judges.  The  pleased  man  is  not  suspi- 
cious ;  he  does  not  hesitate  in  coming  to  a  con- 
clusion, and  he  is  not  likely  to  impute  evil 
motives  to  the  actions  of  others.  As  has  been 


176      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

well  said  by  Dickens,  when  speaking  from  the 
viewpoint  of  the  defendant,  "A  good,  con- 
tented, well-breakfasted  juryman  is  a  capital 
thing  to  get  hold  of.  Discontented  or  hungry 
jurymen  always  find  for  the  plaintiff." 

The  salesman  with  a  pleasing  personality 
is  able  to  sell  more  goods  than  others  less 
happily  endowed.  Some  salesmen  try  to  sup- 
plement this  power  —  or  supply  the  lack  of  a 
pleasing  personality — by  "jollying"  the  pos- 
sible customer  in  various  ways.  Dinners, 
theaters,  cigars,  and  various  other  devices 
are  thus  used,  and  in  many  instances  with  suc- 
cess. 

k  Modern  business  employs  such  methods  less 
and  less,  chiefly  because  the  customer  recog- 
nizes the  purpose  of  the  attempt,  and  either 
refuses  to  accept  the  "hospitality"  or  is  on 
his  guard  to  resist  the  effect.  A  pleasing  per- 
sonality, however,  inspires  confidence,  tends 
to  put  the  customer  in  a  good  humor  and  op- 
timistic mood,  and  results  in  sales. 

A  cold,  formal  manner,  ill  temper,  or  a 
pessimistic  outlook,  on  the  contrary,  will 


Pleasure  177 

handicap  the  sale  of  the  best  merchandise 
made. 

A  man  is  said  to  be  suggestible  when  he 
comes  to  conclusions  or  acts  without  due 
deliberation.  Suggestion,  then,  is  nothing  but 
the  mental  condition  which  causes  us  to  be- 
lieve and  respond  without  the  normal  amount 
of  weighing  of  evidence.  While  in  a  suggest- 
ible condition  we  are  credulous,  responsive, 
and  impulsive.  Such  a  mental  condition  is 
favored  and  induced  by  pleasure.  Discom- 
fort or  dissatisfaction  with  the  conditions  or 
surroundings  prompts  the  opposing  attitude ; 
we  become  suspicious  and  slow  to  act  or  be- 
lieve. While  in  a  suggestible  condition,  we 
place  our  orders  freely  and  promptly.  The 
merchant  who  can  please  his  customers  and 
bring  them  to  a  suggestible  mood  before  he 
displays  his  wares,  therefore,  has  done  much  to 
secure  generous  sales. 

Advantageous  results  from  suggestion  are 
not  limited  to  the  relationship  between  buyer 
and  seller. 

The  pleased  and  satisfied  employee  is  open 
v 


178      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  the  suggestions  of  foreman  and  manager  and 
responds  with  an  enthusiasm  impossible  of 
generation  in  one  dissatisfied  from  any  cause. 
Methods  of  insuring  this  pleasure  in  work 
for  employees  are  yet  in  the  formative  stage. 
Until  recently  the  want  of  such  methods,  in- 
deed, was  not  felt.  {  The  slave  driver  with  the 
most  profane  vocabulary  and  the  greatest 
recklessness  in  the  use  of  fist  and  foot  was 

*"~Mnmr-  r.T        • 

supposed  to  be  the  most  effective  type  of  boss. 
The  task  system  set  an  irreducible  minimum 
for  the  day's  work ;  the  employer  exacted  the 
task  and  assumed  that  no  better  way  of  han- 
dling men  could  be  devised.  Piecework  rates 
provided  a  better  and  more  reasonable  basis 
for  securing  something  like  a  maximum  day's 
work ;  bonus  and  premium  systems  have  car- 
ried the  incentive  of  the  wage  in  increasing  effi- 
ciency to  the  last  point  short  of  cooperative 
organization.  But  all  of  these  systems  fall 
short  in  assuming  that  men  are  machines ; 
that  their  powers  and  capacities  are  fixed  quan- 
tities ;  that  the  efficiency  of  a  well-disposed  and 
industrious  employee  ought  to  be  proof  against 


Pleasure  179 

varying  conditions  or  environment;  that  a 
man  can  achieve  the  desired  standard,  if  only 
he  has  the  will  to  achieve  it. 

Discipline  has  become  less  brutal  if  not  less 
strict.  The  laborer  works,  not  alone  to  avoid 
poverty  and  hunger,  but  to  secure  the  means  of 
pleasure. 

It  is  not  so  long  since  harsh  discipline  was 
common  both  in  homes  and  in  business.  The 
boy  worked  hard  because  he  was  afraid  not  to. 
The  man  labored  because  poverty  threatened 
him  if  idle.  We  were  in  what  might  be  called 
a  "pain  economy  " ;  we  worked  to  escape  pain. 
To-day  this  has  largely  been  changed. 

Employers,  too,  are  experimenting  boldly 
with  the  idea  of  creating  pleasure  in  work. 
The  first  step  has  been  taken  in  the  very 
general  elimination  of  the  old  wasteful,  neg- 
lectful elements  of  factory  and  office  envi- 
ronment. Comfort,  the  first  neutral  element 
of  pleasure,  is  provided  for  employees  just  as 
solid  foundations  are  provided  for  the  factory 
buildings.  There  is  light,  heat,  and  ventilation 
where  a  generation  ago  there  were  tiny  windows, 


180      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

shadows,  lonely  stoves,  and  foul  air.  Cleanli- 
ness is  provided  and  preserved ;  not  a  few  of 
the  larger  industries  employ  a  regular  corps  of 
janitors  to  keep  floors,  walls,  and  windows  clean. 
The  walls  are  tinted ;  the  lights  are  arranged 
so  as  to  provide  the  right  illumination  without 
straining  the  workers'  eyes.  The  departments 
are  symmetrically  arranged ;  the  aisles  are 
wide ;  the  working  space  is  ample ;  there  is 
no  fear  to  haunt  machine  tenders  that  a  mis- 
step or  a  moment  of  forgetfulness  will  entangle 
them  in  a  neighboring  machine.  The  factory 
buildings  themselves,  without  being  preten- 
tious, have  pleasing,  simple  lines  and  unob- 
trusive ornamentation.  They  look  like,  and 
are,  when  the  human  equation  does  not  inter- 
fere, pleasant  places  to  work  in. 

This  is  the  typical  modern  factory;  thou- 
sands can  be  found  in  America.  On  this 
foundation  of  good  working  conditions  and 
pleasant  environment,  many  companies  have 
built  more  or  less  elaborate  systems  of  wel- 
fare work,  whose  effectiveness  in  creating 
pleasure  and  efficiency  seem  to  depend  on  the 


Pleasure  1 8 1 

purpose  and  spirit  of  the  men  behind  them. 
These  systems  frequently  begin  with  beautifi- 
cation  of  the  factory  premises  and  workrooms 
-  window  boxes,  factory  lawns,  ivied  walls, 
trees,  and  shrubs  —  and  advance  by  various 
stages  to  lunch  rooms  for  workers,  factory 
libraries,  rest  rooms  for  women  workers,  fac- 
tory nurses  and  physicians,  and  sometimes  the 
development  of  a  social  life  among  employees 
through  picnics,  lectures,  dances,  night  schools, 
and  like  activities.  The  methods  employed 
are  too  diverse  and  too  recent  to  permit  an  ac- 
curate estimate  of  their  work  or  a  true  analysis 
of  the  elements  of  their  success.  It  is  incum- 
bent on  the  employer  to  find  or  work  out  for 
himself  the  method  best  suited  to  his  individ- 
ual needs. 

To  understand  how  pleasure  heightens  the 
suggestibility  of  the  individual  it  is  but  necessary 
to  consider  the  well-known  effects  which  pleasure 
has  on  the  various  bodily  and  mental  processes. 

The  action  of  pleasure  and  displeasure  upon 
the  muscles  of  the  body  is  most  apparent. 
With  displeasure  the  muscles  of  the  forehead 


1 82      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

contract ;  folds  and  wrinkles  appear.  The 
corners  of  the  mouth  are  drawn  down ;  the 
head  bowed ;  the  shoulders  stoop  and  draw 
together  over  the  breast;  the  chest  is  con- 
tracted ;  the  fingers  of  the  hand  close,  and  there 
is  also  a  tendency  to  bend  the  arms  so  as  to 
protect  the  fore  part  of  the  body.  In  dis- 
pleasure the  body  is  thus  seen  to  contract  and 
to  put  itself  on  the  defensive.  It  closes  itself 
to  outside  influences  and  attempts  to  "with- 
draw within  its  shell." 

With  pleasure  the  forehead  is  smoothed 
out ;  the  corners  of  the  mouth  are  lifted ;  the 
head  is  held  erect;  the  shoulders  are  thrown 
back;  the  chest  is  expanded;  the  fingers  of 
the  hand  are  opened,  and  the  arm  is  ready  to 
go  out  to  grasp  any  object.  The  whole  body 
is  thrown  into  a  receptive  attitude.  It  is  pre- 
pared to  be  affected  by  outside  stimulations 
and  is  ready  to  profit  by  them. 

That  these  characteristic  bodily  attitudes 
of  pleasure  and  displeasure  have  an  effect 
on  the  mind  is  evident.  Bodily  and  mental  at- 
titudes have  developed  together  in  the  history 


Pleasure  1 83 

of  the  race.  The  conditions  which  cause  a 
receptive  attitude  of  body  cause  also  a  sug- 
gestible state  of  mind.  The  conditions  which 
call  for  bodily  protection  also  demand  a  sus- 
picious and  non-responsive  attitude  of  mind. 
The  bodily  and  the  mental  attitudes  have  be- 
come so  intimately  associated  that  the  pres- 
ence of  one  assures  the  presence  of  the  other. 

Pleasure  and  a  particular  attitude  of  body  are 
indissolubly  united,  and  when  these  two  are 
present,  a  suggestible  condition  of  mind  seems  of 
necessity  to  follow. 

Thus  by  the  subtle  working  of  pleasant 
impressions  the  customer  is  disarmed  of  his 
suspicion  and  made  ready  to  respond  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  merchant. 

The  effect  of  the  suggestible  attitude  of  the 
body,  as  produced  by  pleasure,  is  increased 
by  certain  other  effects  which  pleasure  pro- 
duces on  the  body. 

Muscular  strength  is  frequently  measured 
by  finding  the  maximum  grip  on  a  recording 
instrument.  The  amount  of  the  grip  varies 
from  time  to  time  and  is  affected  by  various 


184      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

conditions.  One  of  the  phenomena  which  has 
been  thoroughly  investigated  is  the  effect  of 
pleasure  and  of  pain  on  the  intensity  of  the 
grip.  It  is  well  established  that  pleasure 
increases  the  grip  or  the  available  amount  of 
energy.  Displeasure  reduces  the  strength. 

The  total  volume  of  the  body  would  seem 
to  be  constant  for  any  particular  short  interval 
of  time.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case. 

With  pleasure  the  lungs  are  filled  with  air 
from  deepened  breathing;  the  volume  of  the 
limbs  is  increased  by  the  increased  flow  of  blood. 
Pleasure  thus  actually  makes  us  larger  and  dis- 
pleasure smaller. 

This  increase  in  muscular  strength  and  bod- 
ily volume  due  to  pleasure  has  a  very  decided 
effect  upon  the  mind.  The  increase  of  mus- 
cular strength  gives  us  a  feeling  of  power  and 
assurance,  the  increase  in  volume  gives  us  a 
feeling  of  expansion  and  importance.  These 
conditions  produced  by  increase  of  muscular 
strength  and  bodily  volume  contribute  to  the 
general  suggestible  condition  described  above. 

If  I  am  in  a  suggestible  condition  and  if  I 


Pleasure  185 

also  feel  an  unusual  degree  of  assurance  in  my 
own  powers  and  importance,  I  shall  have  such 
confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  my  intended  acts 
that  there  will  seem  to  be  no  ground  for  delay. 
Furthermore  the  increased  action  of  the  heart, 
due  to  the  effect  of  pleasure,  gives  me  a  feeling 
of  buoyancy  and  invigoration  which  adds  ap- 
preciably to  the  tendency  to  action. 

We  thus  see  why  pleasure  renders  us  more 
suggestible  and  hence  makes  us  more  apt  to 
purchase  proffered  merchandise  or  to  respond 
to  the  suggestions  of  our  foreman  or  our  execu- 
tive. We  also  see  why  it  is  that  a  man  may 
increase  his  efficiency  by  pleasing  those  with 
whom  he  has  to  work,  whether  they  be  cus- 
tomers or  employees. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  LOVE  OF  THE  GAME 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

THE  motives  discussed  in  previous  chap- 
ters are  fairly  adequate  for  developing 
efficiency  in  all  except  the  owner  or 
chief  executive.  The  employee  may  imitate 
and  compete  with  his  equals  and  his  superiors  ; 
he  may  work  for  his  wage,  and  he  may  be  loyal 
to  the  house.  To  increase  the  industry  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  head  is  a  task  of  supreme 
importance.  Interest  and  enthusiasm  must 
be  kindled  at  the  top  that  the  spark  may  be 
passed  down  to  the  lower  levels.  It  can  never 
travel  in  the  opposite  direction. 

How,  then,  is  the  president  to  light  his  fires 
and  transmit  his  enthusiasm  to  his  managers 
and  other  subordinates  ?  Not  by  working  for 

1 86 


The  Love  of  the  Game  187 

money  alone,  nor  through  imitation,  competi- 
tion, or  loyalty  to  the  works  of  his  own  hands. 
All  these  may  be  essential,  may  be  powerful 
subordinate  incentives  to  action,  but  singly  or 
collectively  they  are  not  adequate.  In  any 
organization,  the  head  who  attains  the  maxi- 
mum of  success  must  depend  for  his  enthusi- 
asm upon  an  instinctive  love  of  the  game. 

The  subordinate  possessing  such  love  of 
the  game  and  independent  of  others  for  his 
enthusiasm  is  sure  to  rise.  The  subject  is, 
therefore,  of  vital  importance  both  to  the 
executive  and  to  the  ambitious  employee. 
Every  employer  feels  the  need  of  such  an  atti- 
tude towards  work,  both  in  himself  and  in  his 
men. 

An  attempt  will  be  made  in  this  chapter 
to  comprehend  this  instinctive  love  of  the 
game,  to  discuss  to  what  extent  it  is  inherited 
and  to  what  extent  subject  to  cultivation,  and 
to  analyze  the  conditions  most  favorable  for 
its  development  in  respect  to  one's  own  work 
as  well  as  that  of  his  employees. 

The  love  of  the  game  is  in  part  instinctive, 


1 88      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

and  its  nature  is  made  clear  by  consideration 
of  certain  of  the  instincts  of  animals. 

The  young  lion  spends  much  time  in  pre- 
tended stalking  of  game  and  in  harmless 
struggles  with  his  mates.  He  takes  great 
delight  in  the  exercise  of  his  cunning  and  in  his 
strength  of  limb  and  jaw.  Fortunately  for  the 
young  lion  this  is  the  sort  of  activity  best 
adapted  to  develop  his  strength  of  muscle 
and  his  cunning  in  capturing  prey.  However, 
it  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the  training  that  the 
young  lion  performs  these  particular  acts. 
He  does  them  simply  because  he  loves  to.  In 
like  manner  the  young  greyhound  chasing  his 
mates  and  the  young  squirrel  gathering  and 
storing  nuts  have  no  thought  beyond  the  in- 
stinctive pleasure  they  find  in  performing  these 
functions.  To  each  there  is  no  other  form  of 
activity  so  satisfactory. 

Man  possesses  more  instincts  than  any  of 
the  lower  animals.  One  pronounced  instinct 
in  all  normal  males  is  the  hunting  instinct. 
Grover  Cleveland  went  fishing  because  he 
loved  the  sport,  not  because  of  the  value  of 


The  Love  of  the  Game  189 

the  fish  caught.  Theodore  Roosevelt  did  not 
hunt  big  game  in  Africa  because  he  was  in  need 
of  luscious  steaks  or  tawny  hides.  He  was  not 
working  solely  in  the  interest  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institute  nor  to  secure  material  for  his 
book.  Doubtless  these  were  subsidiary  mo- 
tives, but  the  chief  reason  why  he  killed  the 
game  was  that  he  instinctively  loves  the  sport. 
He  endured  the  hardships  of  Africa  for  the 
same  reason  that  fishermen  spend  days  in  the 
icy  water  of  a  trout  stream  and  hunters  lie  still 
for  hours  suffering  intense  cold  for  a  chance  to 
shoot  at  a  bear. 

For  some  men,  buying  and  selling  is  as  great  a 
delight  as  felling  a  deer.  For  others  the  manu- 
facture of  goods  is  as  great  a  joy  as  landing  a 
trout.  For  such  a  man  enthusiasm  for  his  work 
is  unfailing  and  industry  unremittent. 

He  is  suited  to  his  task  as  is  the  cub  to  the 
fight,  the  puppy  to  the  chase,  the  squirrel  to 
the  burying  of  nuts,  or  the  hunter  to  the  kill- 
ing of  game.  His  labor  always  appeals  to 
him  as  the  thing  of  supremest  moment.  His 
interest  in  it  is  such  that  it  never  fails  to  in- 


190      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in   Business 

spire  others  by  contagion.  For  such  a  man 
laziness  or  indifference  in  business  seems  anom- 
alous, while  industry  and  enthusiasm  are  as 
natural  as  the  air  he  breathes  and  as  inex- 
haustible as  the  air  itself. 

By  classifying  the  love  of  the  game  as  an 
instinct,  we  seem  to  admit  that  it  is  born 
and  not  developed;  that  some  men  possess 
it  and  others  do  not ;  that  if  a  man  possesses 
it,  he  does  not  need  to  cultivate  it,  and  that 
if  he  does  not  possess,  he  cannot  acquire  it. 
There  is  doubtless  much  truth  in  this,  but 
fortunately  it  is  not  the  whole  truth. 
(•:  Some  instincts  are  specific  —  even  stereo- 
typed —  and  not  subject  to  cultivation  or 
change.  Thus  the  bee's  instinctive  method  of 
gathering  and  storing  honey  is  very  specific 
and  definite.  The  bee  is  unable  to  modify  its 
routine  to  any  great  extent.  The  bee  which 
does  not  instinctively  perform  the  different 
acts  properly  will  never  learn  to. 

There  are  other  instincts  not  so  stereo- 
typed in  manner  or  constant  in  degree.  The 
instincts  of  man  are  much  more  variable  than 


The  Love  of  the  Game  191 

those  of  the  lower  animals  and  are  much  more 
subject  to  direction,  inhibition,  or  develop- 
ment. If  this  love  of  the  game  were  solely  a 
matter  of  inheritance,  if  the  business  genius 
were  born  and  not  made,  and  if  it  could  not 
be  cultivated  and  developed,  our  hope  for  the 
improvement  of  the  race  would  be  small. 

Potential  geniuses  exist  in  large  numbers 
but  fail  of  discovery  because  they  are  not 
developed.  Instincts  manifest  themselves  only 
in  the  presence  of  certain  stimulating  condi- 
tions. They  are  developed  by  exercise  and 
stimulated  further  by  the  success  attending 
upon  their  exercise. 

Thus  certain  conditions,  more  or  less  definite, 
are  effective  in  determining  the  line  along  which 
instincts  shall  manifest  themselves,  and  the 
extent  to  which  the  instincts  shall  be  devel- 
oped and  then  ultimately  supplemented  by 
experience  and  reason. 

Fortunately  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
although  the  business  genius  must  have  a  good 
inheritance,  yet  the  inheritance  does  not  deter- 
mine what  its  possessor  shall  make  of  himself. 


192      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Many  persons  are  inclined  to  overestimate 
the  influence  of  inheritance  in  determining 
success  in  business.  The  folly  of  this  atti- 
tude is  every  day  becoming  more  and  more 
apparent. 

The  conditions  essential  for  developing 
the  love  of  the  game  in  business  may  be 
summarized  under  three  heads  :  — 

First,  a  man  will  develop  a  love  of  the  game 
in  any  business  in  which  he  is  led  to  assume  a 
responsibility,  to  take  personal  initiative,  to 
feel  that  he  is  creating  something,  and  that  he 
is  expressing  himself  in  his  work. 

As  organizations  become  larger  and  more  com- 
plex in  their  methods,  there  is  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  difficulty  of  making  the  em- 
ployees retain  and  develop  this  feeling  of  inde- 
pendent and  creative  responsibility.  Business 
has  become  so  specialized  and  the  work  of  the 
individual  seems  so  petty  that  he  is  not  likely 
to  feel  that  he  is  expressing  himself  through  his 
work  or  to  retain  a  feeling  of  independence. 
Properly  conceived,  there  is  no  position  in 
trade  or  industry  which  does  not  warrant  such 


The  Love  of  the  Game  193 

an  attitude.  To  promote  this  attitude  various 
devices  have  been  adopted  by  business  firms. 
Some  try  to  put  a  real  responsibility  on  each 
employee  and  to  make  him  feel  it.  Others 
have  devised  forms  of  partnership  which  give 
numerous  employees  shares  in  the  business 
and  so  help  to  develop  this  attitude. 

In  developing  men  for  responsible  positions 
this  attitude  must  be  secured  and  retained 
even  while  they  are  occupying  the  lesser 
positions. 

Few  things  so  stimulate  a  boy  as  the  feeling 
that  he  is  responsible  for  a  certain  task,  that  he  is 
expressing  himself  in  it,  that  he  is  creating  some- 
thing worth  while. 

Many  managers  and  more  foremen  are 
unable  to  develop  this  feeling  in  their  subordi- 
nates because  they  assume  all  the  responsi- 
bility and  allow  those  under  them  no  share  of 
it.  On  the  other  hand,  some  executives  have 
the  happy  faculty  of  inspiring  this  attitude 
in  all  their  men.  The  late  Marshall  Field 
made  partners  of  his  lieutenants  and  encour- 
aged them  to  assume  responsibility  and  to  do 


194      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

creative  work.  As  a  result  they  developed 
a  love  of  the  game  —  a  fact  to  which  he  owed 
much  of  his  phenomenal  success. 

The  second  condition  or  factor  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  love  of  the  game  in  business 
is  social  prestige. 

We  have  but  partially  expressed  the  nature 
of  man  when  we  have  spoken  of  him  as  de- 
lighting in  independent  self-expression,  as 
being  self-centered  and  self-seeking.  Man  is 
inherently  social  in  his  nature  and  desires 
nothing  more  than  the  approval  of  his  fellows. 
That  which  society  approves  we  do  with  enthu- 
siasm. We  change  our  forms  of  amusements, 
our  manner  of  life,  and  our  daily  occupations 
according  to  the  whims  of  society.  Fifteen 
years  ago  the  riding  of  bicycles  was  quite  the 
proper  thing,  and  we  all  trained  down  till  we 
could  ride  a  century.  To-day  we  are  equally 
enthusiastic  in  lowering  bogy  on  the  golf 
course.  This  change  in  our  ambitions  is 
not  because  it  is  inherently  more  fun  to  beat 
bogy  than  to  ride  a  century.  The  change  has 
come  about  simply  because  of  the  change  of 


The  Love  of  the  Game  195 

social  prestige  secured  from  the  two  forms  of 
amusement. 

We  may  expect  to  find  enthusiastic  indus- 
try in  the  accomplishment  of  any  task  which 
society  looks  upon  as  particularly  worthy. 
During  the  past  few  decades  in  America 
society  has  given  the  capitalist  unusual  honor 
and  has  allowed  him  monetary  rewards  unprec- 
edented in  the  history  of  the  world. 

If  the  capitalist  had  been  honored  less  than 
the  poet,  the  preacher,  or  the  soldier,  and  his 
material  rewards  fallen  below  theirs,  our 
money  captains  would  have  been  fewer  in 
number. 

In  spite  of  occasional  muck  rakings,  so- 
ciety's esteem  for  the  capitalist  has  been  un- 
bounded. He  is  in  general  the  only  man  with 
a  national  reputation.  Society  bestows  upon 
him  unstinted  praise  and  the  most  generous 
rewards  for  his  toil.  His  rewards  are  so  ex- 
travagant that  the  game  seems  worthy  of  every 
effort  he  can  put  forth.  Love  of  the  game  has 
consequently  been  engendered  within  him, 
and  his  enthusiasm  has  been  unbounded. 


196      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

This  motive  of  social  prestige  is  less  easy 
of  application  to  the  humbler  ranks  of  em- 
ployees. 

Most  men  engaged  in  the  industries  are 
entirely  deprived  of  the  stimulus  because 
their  social  group  does  not  look  with  approval 
upon  their  daily  tasks.  It  may  even  despise 
men  fordoing  well  work  essential  as  preparatory 
to  better  positions.  There  are  many  young 
men  engaged  in  perfectly  worthy  employment 
who  prefer  that  their  social  set  should  not 
know  of  the  exact  nature  of  their  work  for 
fear  it  would  be  regarded  as  menial  and  not 
sufficiently  "  swell." 

This  disrespect  for  honest  toil  is  due  to 
various  causes.  One  cause  is  that  nearly 
all  young  men  —  and  indeed  most  older  men 
too  —  look  upon  their  present  positions  merely 
as  stepping  stones.  They  look  forward  to  pro- 
motion and  more  interesting  work.  They  and 
their  social  group  fail  to  accord  dignity  to  the 
work  which  they  are  doing  at  any  time. 

Another  reason  why  the  motive  of  social 
prestige  has  no  effect  in  the  more  humble 


The  Love  of  the  Game  197 

positions  is  that  in  business  we  have  practi- 
cally abandoned  the  standard  of  the  artist 
and  adopted  that  of  the  capitalist.  The 
artist's  standard  is  diametrically  opposed  to 
the  capitalistic  standard.  We  honor  the  capi- 
talist not  for  what  he  does,  but  for  the  money 
he  gets  for  what  he  does.  We  honor  the  artist 
for  what  he  does  and  never  because  of  the 
monetary  considerations  which  follow  his 
creation. 

To  substitute  the  standard  of  the  artist  for  the 
standard  of  the  capitalist  would  be  impossible 
in  business,  yet  a  harmonious  working  of  the 
two  is  possible. 

Such  a  harmony  was  probably  present  in  the 
old  industrial  guilds,  which  developed  a  class 
consciousness  creating  its  own  ideals.  Within 
the  guild  the  most  skillful  workman  had  the 
highest  honor.  The  work  itself,  independent 
of  the  money  which  might  be  received  for  it, 
was  uppermost  in  the  worker's  mind. 

The  executive  seeking  to  stimulate  love  of 
the  game  among  his  workmen  should  in  some 
way  see  that  social  approval  attaches  itself 


198      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  the  work  as  such  and  not  to  the  wage  which 
is  secured  by  means  of  the  work.  The  work- 
men must  be  given  an  interest  in  the  work  as 
well  as  in  the  wage. 

Executives  everywhere  find  that  "getting 
together"  with  others  engaged  in  the  same 
work  is  most  stimulating.  We  are  inspired 
by  the  presence  of  others  engaged  in  the  same 
sort  of  work  and  giving  approval  to  success  in 
our  particular  field. 

The  third  condition  for  securing  a  love  of  the 
game  is  that  the  work  itself  must  appeal  to  the 
individual  as  something  important  and  useful. 

Its  useful  function  must  be  apparent,  and 
the  necessity  and  advantage  of  perfect  per- 
formance must  be  emphasized.  I  play  golf 
because  the  game  permits  me  to  assert  myself 
and  engage  in  independent  and  exhilarating 
activity.  My  devotion  to  my  professional 
tasks,  however,  is  dependent  upon  the  fact 
that  I  regard  psychology,  whether  the  work 
be  in  research  or  instruction,  as  of  the  great- 
est importance  to  science  and  to  mankind  in 
general.  The  work  as  a  whole  and  all  the 


The  Love  of  the  Game  199 

details  of  it  seem  to  me  to  be  important.  In 
performing  my  daily  tasks  they  seem  to  me  to 
be  worthy  of  the  most  persistent  and  enthu- 
siastic effort. 

Doubtless  there  are  classes  of  work  incapable 
of  appealing  to  individuals  as  does  my  work  to 
me.  But  in  many  instances  work  seems  menial 
and  ignoble  because  it  is  not  understood.  It  is 
not  seen  in  its  relationships  and  broader  as- 
pects. The  single  task  as  performed  by  the 
individual  is  so  small  and  so  specialized  that 
it  does  not  seem  worth  while. 

The  dignity  of  labor  demands  that  the 
workman  should  respect  the  work  of  his 
hands. 

He  should  look  upon  his  accomplished 
tasks  as  of  inherent  dignity  independent 
of  the  monetary  recompense  to  be  received. 
To  keep  the  workman's  efficiency  keyed  up, 
the  employer  should  see  to  it  that  this  broader 
aspect  of  labor  is  emphasized  and  that  the  day 
laborer  finds  some  reason  for  his  labor  besides 
his  wage.  It  is  the  only  game  he  may  ever 
have  time  to  play.  It  is  to  the  interest  of 


aoo      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

himself,  his  employer,  and  society  at  large  that 
he  should  enter  enthusiastically  into  it  and  be 
ennobled  by  it. 

Professional,  technical,  and  vocational  schools 
are  serving  a  noble  function  in  emphasizing  the 
dignity  of  the  work  for  which  they  are  preparing 
young  men. 

They  are  more  and  more  presenting  the 
broader  aspects  of  the  subjects  taught.  Even 
the  altruistic  and  extremely  technical  aspects 
of  the  subject  are  found  profitable.  The  nar- 
rower and  apparently  the  more  practical  course 
does  not  result  so  successfully  as  the  broader 
and  more  cultural  ones. 

The  boy  who  goes  direct  into  work  from 
the  public  school  is  not  likely  to  coordinate 
his  task  with  the  general  activity  of  the  estab- 
lishment, and  he  is  not  likely  to  see  how  he 
is  in  anyway  contributing  to  the  welfare  of 
humanity  by  his  work.  He  needs  to  be  shown 
how  each  line  of  industry  and  profession  serves 
a  great  function,  has  an  interesting  history,  and 
is  vitally  connected  with  many  of  the  most 
important  human  interests.  He  should  learn 


The  Love  of  the  Game  201 

to  see  how  the  different  cogs  are  essential  and 
worthy  factors  in  the  total  process.  The  boy 
who  thus  comprehends  his  task  looks  upon  it 
and  is  inspired  by  it  in  a  way  that  would 
otherwise  be  quite  impossible. 

Some  of  the  most  successful  houses  have 
been  so  impressed  with  the  importance  of  this 
form  of  industrial  education  that  at  their  own 
expense  they  have  established  night  schools  for 
new  employees  as  well  as  for  those  who  have 
been  years  with  the  firm.  Not  only  are  the 
students  taught  how  to  perform  their  respec- 
tive tasks,  but  a  broader  program  is  attempted. 
Sometimes  an  attempt  is  made  to  lead  the 
students  to  appreciate  the  dignity  of  the  par- 
ticular activity  in  which  the  firm  is  engaged. 
The  history  of  the  firm  is  then  fully  presented 
so  that  the  employees  will  comprehend  the  part 
the  house  has  actually  taken  in  the  world. 
Some  firms  try  to  show  each  man  how  his 
work  is  related  to  the  work  of  the  house  as  a 
whole  and  to  other  departments.  In  various 
ways  schools  and  individual  firms  are  suc- 
cessfully attempting  to  inject  a  nobler  regard 


2O2       Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

and  appreciation  for  labor.  The  result  is  most 
gratifying  and  manifests  itself  in  increased 
enthusiasm  and  other  expressions  of  the  in- 
creased love  of  the  game. 

The  three  conditions  which  we  have  been 
considering  for  developing  the  love  of  the 
game  are  quite  different,  appeal  to  the  differ- 
ent sides  of  the  individual,  and  are  not  all 
equally  applicable  to  the  young  man  who 
seeks  to  become  a  leader  among  his  fellows  or 
to  the  manager  of  men  who  seeks  to  develop 
leaders. 

The  attitude  of  independent,  creative  re- 
sponsibility appeals  to  our  individualistic  and 
self-centered  self.  It  is  an  attitude  that  may 
be  assumed  by  the  ambitious  young  man  and 
encouraged  by  the  manager.  It  is  absolutely 
indispensable  for  developing  this  much-coveted 
love  of  the  game  in  any  form  of  useful  endeavor. 
It  is  readily  assumed  or  developed  in  the  chief 
executive,  but  may  be  developed  in  subordi- 
nates with  great  difficulty. 

Social  prestige  appeals  to  our  selfishly 
social  natures,  and  yet  the  desire  to  secure  this 


The  Love  of  the  Game  203 

social  favor  is  in  the  main  ennobling.  It  is 
of  special  value  to  the  manager  of  large  groups 
of  men.  The  manager  may  create  the  social 
atmosphere  which  is  most  favorable  to  the 
development  of  the  love  of  the  game  in  his 
particular  industry. 

The  last  condition  discussed,  regard  for 
the  work  as  important  and  as  useful,  makes 
its  appeal  to  our  nobler  and  what  we  might  in 
some  instances  speak  of  as  our  altruistic  selves. 
This  condition  is  equally  serviceable  to  the 
ambitious  youth  and  to  the  successful  super- 
intendent of  men.  We  all  look  out  for  num- 
ber one,  but  appeals  made  to  the  higher  self 
are  not  unavailing.  We  are  most  profoundly 
stirred  when  we  are  appealed  to  from  all  sides. 
However,  the  love  of  the  game  will  never  be 
universal  in  the  professional  and  industrial 
world.  We  can  scarcely  imagine  the  millen- 
nium when  all  employees  would  cease  to  despise 
their  toil  and  cease  to  serve  for  pay  alone. 


CHAPTER  IX 
RELAXATION 

AS  A  MEANS  OF  INCREASING  HUMAN  EFFI- 
CIENCY 

Be  not  therefore  anxious  for  the  Morrow 

A  STUDY  of  the  lives  of  great  men  is 
both   interesting   and  profitable.     In 
such  a  study  we  are  amazed  at  the 
records  of  the  deeds  of  the  men  whom  the 
world  calls  great.     The  results  of  the  labors 
of   Hercules    seem    to    be   approximated   ac- 
cording to  many  of  these  truthful  accounts. 

In  studying  the  lives  of  contemporary  busi- 
ness men  two  facts  stand  out  prominently. 
The  first  is  that  their  labors  have  brought  about 
results  that  to  most  of  us  would  have  seemed 
impossible.  Such  men  appear  as  giants,  in 
comparison  with  whom  ordinary  men  sink  to 
the  size  of  pygmies. 

The  second  fact  which  a  study  of  successful 
204 


Relaxation  205 

business  men  (or  any  class  of  successful  men) 
reveals  is  that  they  never  seem  rushed  for 
time. 

Men  noted  for  efficiency  almost  never  appear  to 
be  hurried.  They  have  plenty  of  time  to  accom- 
plish their  tasks,  and  therefore  can  afford  to  take 
their  work  leisurely. 

Such  men  have  time  to  devote  to  objects  in 
no  way  connected  with  their  business.  It  can- 
not be  regarded  as  accidental  that  this  charac- 
teristic of  mind  is  found  so  commonly  among 
successful  men  during  the  years  of  their  most 
fruitful  labor. 

According  to  the  American  Ideal,  the  man 
who  is  sure  to  succeed  is  one  who  is  continu- 
ously "  keyed  up  to  concert  pitch,"  who  is  ever 
alert  and  is  always  giving  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness or  profession.  As  far  as  the  captains  of 
industry  are  concerned,  such  is  not  the  case. 
They  devote  relatively  few  hours  a  day  to  their 
strenuous  toil,  but  they  keep  a  cool  head  and  a 
steady  hand.  They  are  always  composed, 
never  confused,  but  ever  ready  to  attack  a  new 
problem  with  their  maximum  ability.  They 


206      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

follow  the  injunction  of  Christ  expressed  in 
His  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  "Be  not  therefore 
anxious  for  the  morrow." 

Of  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  Americans 
are  supposed  to  be  the  hardest  working.  We 
have  attributed  our  industrial  success  to  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  bustle  and  snap  to  our  work 
which  are  not  equaled  in  any  other  country. 
But  recent  students  of  the  industrial  world  are 
now  telling  us  that  even  in  the  case  of  day 
and  piece  labor  this  characteristic  is  frequently 
a  weakness  rather  than  an  advantage.  They 
say  that  the  American  product  "suffers  from 
hurry,  want  of  finish,  and  want  of  solidity." — 
"Industrial  Efficiency,"  Arthur  Shadwell, 
Vol.  I,  p.  26. 

In  the  great  middle  class  of  American  society, 
there  is  a  lack  of  repose  and  an  absence  of  re- 
laxation which  astonishes  foreign  observers. 

They  tell  us  that  we  are  wild-eyed  and  too 
intense.  Dr.  Clauston  of  Scotland  is  quoted 
as  saying :  — 

"You  Americans  wear  too  much  expression 
in  your  faces.  You  are  living  like  an  army 


Relaxation  207 

with  all  its  reserves  engaged  in  action.  The 
duller  countenance  of  the  British  population 
betokens  a  better  scheme  of  life.  They  sug- 
gest stores  of  reserved  nervous  force  to  fall 
back  upon,  if  any  occasion  should  arise  that 
requires  it.  The  inexcitability,  this  presence 
at  all  times  of  power  not  used,  I  regard  as  the 
great  safeguard  of  our  British  people.  The 
other  thing  in  you  gives  me  a  sense  of  insecur- 
ity, and  you  ought  somehow  to  tone  yourselves 
down.  You  do  really  carry  too  much  expres- 
sion, you  take  too  intensely  the  trivial  moments 
of  life." 

The  late  Professor  William  James  of  Har- 
vard makes  the  following  pertinent  remark 
concerning  the  overtension  of  Americans  : — 

"Your  intense,  convulsive  worker  breaks 
down  and  has  bad  moods  so  often  that  you 
never  know  where  he  may  be  when  you  most 
need  his  help,  —  he  may  be  having  one  of  his 
1  bad  days.'  We  say  that  so  many  of  our 
fellow-countrymen  collapse,  and  have  to  be 
sent  abroad  to  rest  their  nerves,  because  they 
work  so  hard.  I  suspect  that  this  is  an  im- 


208      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

mense  mistake.  I  suspect  that  neither  the  na- 
ture nor  the  amount  of  our  work  is  account- 
able for  the  frequency  and  severity  of  our  break- 
downs, but  that  their  cause  lies  rather  in  those 
absurd  feelings  of  hurry  and  having  no  time, 
in  that  breathlessness  and  tension,  that  anx- 
iety of  feature  and  that  solicitude  of  results, 
that  lack  of  inner  harmony  and  ease,  in  short, 
by  which  with  us  the  work  is  apt  to  be  accom- 
panied, and  from  which  a  European  who  should 
do  the  same  work  would  nine  times  out  of  ten 
be  free.  ...  It  is  your  relaxed  and  easy 
worker,  who  is  in  no  hurry,  and  quite  thought- 
less most  of  the  while  of  consequences,  who 
is  your  efficient  worker ;  and  tension  and  anx- 
iety, and  present  and  future,  all  mixed  up  to- 
gether in  one  mind  at  once,  are  the  surest 
drags  upon  steady  progress  and  hindrances  to 
our  success." — "Talks  to  Teachers,"  pp.  214- 
218. 

Mr.  Joseph  Lyons,  who  is  recognized  as  one 
of  the  particularly  active  and  efficient  men  of 
England,  has  taken  great  interest  in  the  way 
things  are  done  in  America.  And  after  ob- 


Relaxation  209 

serving  us  at  work  here  he  expressed  himself 
as  dissatisfied  with  the  tension  under  which  we 
work.  His  words  are  as  follows  :  — 

"I  do  not  believe  in  what  Americans  call 
hustling.  The  American  hustler  in  my  opin- 
ion does  not  represent  the  highest  type  of 
human  efficiency.  He  wastes  a  lot  of  nervous 
power  and  energy  instead  of  accomplishing 
the  greatest  possible  amount  of  work  for  the 
force  expended.  Judging  the  American  hustler 
from  my  observation  of  him  in  his  own  coun- 
try, I  should  say  that  the  American  hustler 
shows  a  lack  of  adaptation  of  means  to  ends 
because  he  puts  more  mental,  physical,  and 
nervous  energy  into  his  work  at  all  times  than 
it  demands.  Regarded  as  a  machine  he  is  not 
an  economical  one.  He  breaks  down  too  often 
and  has  to  be  laid  off  for  repairs  too  often. 
He  tries  to  do  everything  too  fast." 

When  Mr.  Lyons  was  asked  to  explain  how 
he  had  been  able  to  accomplish  so  much  with- 
out hustling,  he  replied  :  "By  organizing  my- 
self to  run  smoothly  as  well  as  my  business ; 
by  schooling  myself  to  keep  cool,  and  to  do 


2io      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

what  I  have  to  do  without  expending  more 
nervous  energy  on  the  task  than  is  necessary ; 
by  avoiding  all  needless  friction.  In  conse- 
quence, when  I  finish  my  day's  work,  I  feel 
nearly  as  fresh  as  when  I  started." —  Quoted 
from  New  York  Herald,  Aug.  30,  1910. 

RELAXATION  A  PHYSIOLOGICAL  NECESSITY 

The  necessity  for  relaxation  is  adherent  in  the 
human  organism.  Even  those  life  processes 
which  seem  to  be  constant  in  their  activity  require 
frequent  periods  of  complete  rest. 

The  heart  beats  regularly  and  at  short  in- 
tervals, but  after  each  beat  its  muscles  come 
into  a  state  of  complete  relaxation  and  enjoy 
a  refreshing  rest,  even  though  it  be  but  for 
a  moment.  Likewise  the  lungs  seem  to  be 
unceasing  in  their  activity,  but  a  careful  study 
of  their  action  discloses  the  fact  that  every 
contraction  is  followed  by  a  perfect  relaxation, 
and  that  the  rest  secured  between  successive 
respirations  is  adequate  for  recuperations. 

In  all  bodily  processes  the  same  alternation  is 
discovered.  No  bodily  activity  is  at  all  con- 


Relaxation  2 1 1 

tinuous.  Mental  processes,  too,  can  be  con- 
tinued for  but  a  very  short  time.  By  attempt- 
ing to  eliminate  these  periods  of  rest  for  bodily 
and  mental  acts,  we  merely  exhaust  without  a 
corresponding  increase  in  efficiency.  The  laws 
of  nature  are  firm  and  countenance  no  in- 
fringement. 

The  periods  between  activity  and  rest, 
as  well  as  the  durations  of  the  two  processes, 
may  be  changed.  Thus,  up  to  a  certain  limit, 
the  periods  devoted  to  activity  may  follow 
more  rapidly  and  endure  longer.  There  is, 
however,  a  danger  point  which  may  not  be 
passed  with  impunity.  The  danger  signal 

may  manifest  itself  in  several  ways  :  The  over-   -\ 

t 

trained  athlete  becomes  "stale";  the  over- 
worked brain  worker  becomes  nervous ;  the 
overworked  laborer  becomes  indifferent  and 
generally  inefrlciejit.  <- 

In  all  these  and  in  similar  instances,  the 
amount  of  energy  expended  is  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  results  of  the  labor.  The  athletic 
trainer  has  learned  to  guard  against  overtrain- 
ing and  is  severely  condemned  for  making 


212      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

such  a  mistake.  The  brain  worker  often 
regards  overwork  as  a  commendable  thing. 
However,  sentiment  is  changing.  The  em- 
ployer of  labor  is  finding  that  rest  and  relaxa- 
tion are  essential  to  the  greatest  efficiency. 
Employees  accomplish  as  much  in  a  week  of 
six  days  as  they  do  in  one  of  seven.  The  re- 
duction in  the  hours  of  daily  toil  has  not  de- 
creased the  total  efficiency. 

The  periods  devoted  to  rest  are  not  as 
profitable  as  they  should  be  unless  they  are 
actually  devoted  to  recuperation.  It  may  be 
that  some  of  the  time  supposed  to  be  devoted 
to  rest  should  be  devoted  to  thoughts  of  toil. 
Again  during  the  hours  of  work  there  should 
be  a  freedom  from  jerkiness,  breathlessness, 
nervousness,  and  anxiety.  It  is  not  necessarily 
true  that  the  greatest  and  most  constant  dis- 
play of  energy  accompanies  the  greatest  pres- 
ence of  energy.  The  tugboat  in  the  river  is 
constantly  blowing  off  steam  and  making  a 
tremendous  display  of  energy,  while  the  ocean 
liner  proceeds  on  its  way  without  noise  and 
without  commotion.  The  still  current  runs 


Relaxation  213 

deep,  and  the  man  who  is  actually  accomplish- 
ing the  most  is  frequently  --  perhaps  always  — 
the  man  who  is  making  the  least  display  of  his 
strength.  He  can  afford  to  be  calm  and  col- 
lected, for  he  is  equal  to  his  task.  The  man 
who  frets  and  fumes,  who  is  nervous  and  ex- 
cited, who  is  strung  up  to  such  a  pitch  that 
energy  is  being  dissipated  in  all  directions  — 
such  a  man  proclaims  his  weakness  from  the 
housetop. 

Many  business  men  know  they  are  going  at  a 
pace  that  kills,  and  at  the  same  time  they  feel 
that  they  are  accomplishing  too  little.  For  such, 
the  pertinent  question  is,  How  may  I  reduce  the 
expenditure  of  energy  without  reducing  the 
efficiency  of  my  labor  ? 

The  ability  to  relax  at  will  and  to  remain  in 
an  efficient  condition,  but  free  from  nervous- 
ness, is  a  thing  which  may  be  acquired  more 
or  less  completely  by  all  persons.  It  is  ac- 
complished by  a  voluntary  control  of  the  mus- 
cles of  the  arms,  legs,  and  face,  by  breathing 
slowly  and  deeply,  and  by  placing  the  body  in  a 
condition  of  general  relaxation. 


214      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

This  antecedent  condition  of  relaxation 
brings  all  the  forces  of  the  mind  and  body  more 
completely  under  control  and  makes  it  possible 
to  marshal  them  more  effectively.  It  also 
gives  one  a  feeling  of  control  and  assurance, 
which  minimizes  the  possibility  of  confusion 
and  embarrassment  in  the  presence  of  an  im- 
portant task.  The  possibility  of  developing 
the  power  of  relaxation  by  means  of  special 
training  is  being  taken  advantage  of  in  teach- 
ing acts  of  skill,  in  all  forms  of  mental  thera- 
peutics, and  in  numerous  other  instances 
where  overtension  hinders  the  acquisition  or 
accomplishment  of  a  useful  act.  By  assuming 
the  attitude  of  assurance  and  composure,  the 
actual  condition  is  produced  in  a  manner  most 
astonishing  to  those  who  have  never  attempted 
it.  No  man  can  do  his  best  when  he  is  hurried 
and  fearful,  when  he  is  expending  energy  in  a 
manner  as  useless  as  a  tug  blowing  off  steam. 
That  relief  is  within  his  own  power  seems  to 
him  impossible.  He  is  not  aware  of  his  power 
of  will  to  change  from  his  state  of  anxiety  to 
one  of  composure, 


Relaxation  215 

That  the  gospel  of  relaxation  is  more  im- 
portant to  the  chief  executive  than  to  the  day 
laborer  is  quite  apparent.  Even  in  the  case  oi 
the  day  laborer  the  crack  of  the  lash  and  the 
curse  of  the  driver  may  have  been  capable  of 
securing  a  display  of  activity  among  the  labor-  j 
ers,  but  such  means  are  not  comparable  in  ;«' 

efficiency  to  the  more  modern  methods.     La-/ 

u  -  V  r  ' 

borers  are  now  given  more  hours  oi  rest,  ar^f 

not  kept  fearful  and  anxious,  but  are  giveft 
short  hours  of  labor  and  long  hours  of  rest. 
They  are  judged  by  the  actual  results  of  their 
labor  rather  than  by  their  apparent  activity. 

When  accomplishing  intellectual  work  of  any 
sort,  it  is  found  that  worry  exhausts  more  than 
labor. 

Anxiety  as  to  the  results  is  detrimental  to 
efficiency.  The  intellectual  worker  should 
periodically  make  it  a  point  to  sit  in  his  chair 
with  the  muscles  of  his  legs  relaxed,  to  breathe 
deeply,  and  to  assume  an  attitude  of  compo- 
sure. Such  an  attitude  must  not,  of  course, 
detract  from  attention  to  the  work  at  hand, 
but  should  rather  increase  it.  Upon  leaving 


2i 6      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

his  office,  the  brain  worker  should  cultivate 
the  habit  of  forgetting  all  about  his  business, 
except  in  so  far  as  he  believes  that  some  par- 
ticular point  needs  special  attention  out  of 
office  hours.  The  habit  of  brooding  over 
business  is  detrimental  to  efficiency  and  is 
also  suicidal  to  the  individual. 

It  is,  of  course,  apparent  to  all  that  relaxa- 
tion may  mean  permanent  indifference,  and 
such  a  condition  is  infinitely  worse  than  too 
great  a  tension.  An  employer  who  is  never 
keyed  up  to  his  work,  and  an  employee  who 
goes  about  his  work  in  an  indifferent  manner, 
are  not  regarded  in  the  present  discussion. 

A  complete  relaxation  of  the  body  often 
gives  freedom  to  the  intellect.  The  inventor 
is  often  able,  when  lying  in  bed,  to  devise  his 
apparatus  with  a  perfection  impossible  when 
he  attempts  to  study  it  out  in  the  shop.  The 
forgotten  name  will  not  come  till  we  cease 
straining  for  it.  Very  many  of  the  world's 
famous  poems  have  been  conceived  while 
the  poet  was  lying  in  an  easy  and  relaxed  con- 
dition. This  fact  is  so  well  recognized  by  some 


Relaxation  217 

authors  that  they  voluntarily  go  to  bed  in  the 
daytime  and  get  perfectly  relaxed  in  order 
that  their  minds  may  do  the  most  perfect 
work.  Much  constructive  thinking  is  done 
in  the  quiet  of  the  sanctuary,  when  the  monot- 
ony of  the  liturgy  or  the  voice  of  the  speaker 
has  soothed  the  quiet  nerves,  and  secured  a 
composed  condition  of  mind.  The  preacher 
would  be  surprised  if  he  knew  how  many  cos- 
tumes had  been  planned,  how  many  business 
ventures  had  been  outlined,  all  because  of  the 
soothing  influence  of  his  words. 

This  relaxation  of  the  body  not  only  gives 
freedom  to  the  intellect,  but  it  is  the  necessary 
preliminary  condition  for  the  greatest  physical 
exertion  and  for  the  most  perfect  execution  of 
any  series  of  skillful  acts. 

Mr.  H.  L.  Doherty  not  only  held  the  world's 
championship  in  tennis,  but  he  was  the  despair 
of  his  opponents,  because  of  the  apparent  lack 
of  exertion  which  he  put  forth  to  meet  their 
volleys.  So  far  as  an  observer  could  judge, 
Mr.  Doherty  kept  only  those  muscles  tense 
that  were  used  in  the  game.  The  muscles 


2i 8      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in   Business 

especially  necessary  for  tennis  were  also,  so 
far  as  possible,  kept  lax  except  at  the  instant 
for  making  the  stroke.  Partly  because  of  this 
relaxation,  his  muscles  were  free  from  exhaus- 
tion and  under  such  perfect  control  that  at  the 
critical  moment  he  was  able  to  exert  a  strength 
that  was  tremendous  and  a  skill  that  was 
amazing. 

In  a  very  striking  paragraph  Professor  James 
has  shown  the  reason  why  poise  and  efficiency 
of  mind  are  incompatible  with  tenseness  of 
muscles  :  — 

"By  the  sensations  that  so  incessantly  pour 
in  from  the  overtense  excited  body  the  over- 
tense  and  excited  habit  of  mind  is  kept  up  ;  and 
the  sultry,  threatening,  exhausting,  thunderous 
inner  atmosphere  never  quite  clears  away.  If 
you  never  give  yourself  up  wholly  to  the  chair 
you  sit  in,  but  always  keep  your  leg  and  body 
muscles  half  contracted  for  a  rise ;  if  you 
breathe  eighteen  or  nineteen  instead  of  sixteen 
times  a  minute,  and  never  quite  breathe  out  at 
that,  —  what  mental  mood  can  you  be  in  but 
one  of  inner  panting  and  expectancy,  and  how 


Relaxation  219 

can  the  future  and  its  worries  possibly  forsake 
your  mind  ?  On  the  other  hand,  how  can  they 
gain  admission  to  your  mind  if  your  brow  be 
unruffled,  your  respiration  calm  and  complete, 
and  your  muscles  all  relaxed  ?"  —  "Talks  to 
Teachers,"  p.  211. 

In  ancient  Greece,  one  of  the  chief  functions 
of  the  school  was  to  prepare  citizens  to  profit 
by  the  hours  of  freedom  from  toil.  Herbert 
Spencer,  in  his  great  work  on  Education,  gives 
a  prominent  place  to  training  for  leisure  hours. 
Such  training  is  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  American  educator  to-day  as  never  before. 
A  few  decades  ago  the  majority  of  the  American 
population  lived  on  farms,  spent  long  hours  of 
the  day  in  toil,  and  scarcely  thought  of  recrea- 
tion. We  have  now  become  an  urban  popula- 
tion, the  hours  of  labor  have  been  greatly  re- 
duced during  the  days  of  the  week,  and  Sunday 
is  a  day  in  which  the  laborer  is  found  in 
neither  the  factory  nor  the  church. 

The  employer  of  laborers  fears  the  effect  of 
long  hours  of  freedom  from  toil.  He  has 
prophesied  that  such  hours  would  be  spent 


220      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

in  dissipations.  He  feared  that  as  a  result 
his  laborers  would  enter  their  shops  with  un- 
steady hands  and  sleepy  brains.  That  such 
results  are  all  too  often  due  to  freedom  from 
toil,  no  one  would  deny.  That  they  are  not 
necessary  will  also  be  admitted.  One  of  the 
problems  of  the  American  people  as  a  whole, 
and  of  employers  of  labor  in  particular,  is  to 
train  up  the  rising  generations  so  that  they 
may  make  the  best  use  of  the  increasing  hours 
of  freedom  from  labor. 

To  this  end  the  schools  are  doing  much. 
Settlement  workers  are  contributing  their 
part.  Welfare  work  is  becoming  popular  in 
certain  places.  Local  clubs  are  being  organ- 
ized to  develop  interest  in  local  improvement, 
literature,  politics,  ethics,  religion,  music, 
athletics.  These  agencies  are  so  beneficial 
in  results  that  they  are  being  generously 
encouraged  by  business  men. 

Upon  entering  business  every  young  man 
should  select  some  form  of  endeavor  or  activity 
apart  from  business  to  which  he  shall  devote  a 
part  of  his  attention.  This  interest  should  be  so 


Relaxation  22 1 

absorbing  that  when  he  is  thus  engaged,  business 
is  banished  from  mind. 

This  interest  may  be  a  home  and  a  family ; 
it  may  be  some  form  of  athletics ;  it  may  be 
club  life;  it  may  be  art,  literature,  philan- 
thropy, or  religion.  It  must  be  something 
which  appeals  to  the  individual  and  is  adapted 
to  his  capabilities.  Some  men  find  it  advis- 
able to  have  more  than  a  single  interest  for  the 
hours  of  recreation.  Some  form  of  athletics 
or  of  agriculture  is  often  combined  with  an 
interest  in  art,  literature,  religion,  or  other 
intellectual  form  of  recreation.  Thus  Glad- 
stone is  depicted  as  a  woodchopper  and  as  an 
author  of  Greek  works.  Carnegie  is  described 
as  an  enthusiast  in  golf  and  in  philanthropy. 
Rockefeller  is  believed  to  be  interested  in  golf 
and  philanthropy,  but  his  philanthropy  takes 
the  form  of  education  through  endowed  schools. 
Carnegie's  philanthropy  is  in  building  libra- 
ries. If  the  lives  of  the  great  business  men 
are  studied  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  a 
great  diversity  in  the  type  of  recreation  chosen ; 
but  philanthropy,  religion,  and  athletics  are 


222      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

very  prominent  —  perhaps  the  most  popular 
of  the  outside  interests. 

These  interests  cannot  be  suddenly  acquired. 
Many  a  man  who  has  reached  the  years  of 
maturity  has  found  to  his  sorrow  that  he  is 
without  interests  in  the  world  except  his  spe- 
cialty or  business.  With  each  succeeding  year 
he  finds  new  interests  more  difficult  to  acquire. 
Hence  young  men  should  in  their  youth 
choose  wisely  some  interests  to  which  they 
may  devote  themselves  with  perfect  abandon 
at  more  or  less  regular  intervals  throughout 
life. 

The  more  noble  and  the  more  worthy  the 
interest,  the  better  will  be  the  results  when 
considered  from  any  point  of  view.  Indeed, 
the  interests  which  we  call  the  highest  are 
properly  so  designated,  because  in  the  history 
of  mankind  they  have  proved  themselves  to  be 
the  most  beneficial  to  all. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  RATE  OF  IMPROVEMENT  IN  EFFICIENCY 

NO  novice  develops  suddenly  into  an 
expert.     Nevertheless    the    progress 
made    by    beginners    is    often    as- 
tounding.    The  executive  with  experience  is 
not  deceived  by  the  showing  made  by  new 
men.     He  has  learned  to  accept  rapid  initial 
progress,  but  he  does  not  assume  that{  this 
initial  rate  of  increase  will  be  sustained. 

The  rate  at  which  skill  is  acquired  has  been 
the  subject  of  many  careful  studies.  The  re- 
sults have  been  charted  and  reduced  to  curves, 
variously  spoken  of  as  "efficiency  curves," 
"practice  curves,"  "learning  curves,"  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  task  or  test.  Some  of 
these  dealt  with  the  routine  work  of  office  and 
factory.  In  others  typical  muscular  and  men- 
tal activities  were  observed  in  a  simpler  form 
than  could  be  found  in  actual  practice. 

223 


224      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Five  of  my  advanced  students  joined  me  in 
strenuous  practice  in  adding  columns  of  figures 
for  a  few  minutes  daily  for  a  month.  Our 
task  was  to  add  765  one-place  figures  daily  in 
the  shortest  possible  time.  No  emphasis  was 
placed  on  accuracy,  but  each  one  tried  to  make 


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the  highest  daily  record  for  speed.  The  re- 
sults of  our  practice  are  graphically  shown  in 
Curve  A  of  Fig.  I.  As  shown  in  that  curve 
for  the  first  day  our  average  speed  was  only 
forty-two  combinations  per  minute,  but  for  the 
thirtieth  day  our  average  was  seventy-four 
combinations  per  minute.  We  did  not  quite 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     225 

double  our  speed  by  the  practice,  and  we  made 
but  little  improvement  in  accuracy.  The  most 
rapid  gain  was,  as  anticipated,  during  the  first 
few  days.  We  made  but  little  progress  from 
the  sixteenth  to  the  twenty-third  day,  and 
also  from  the  twenty-fourth  to  the  thirtieth 
day. 

Of  the  six  persons  practicing  addition,  five 
of  us  also  practiced  the  making  of  a  maximum 
grip  with  a  thumb  and  forefinger.  Just  before 
beginning  the  adding  each  day  this  maximum 
grip  (or  pinch)  was  exerted  once  a  second  for 
sixty  seconds,  first  with  the  right  hand  and 
then  with  the  left.  Likewise  at  the  comple- 
tion of  the  addition  sixty  grips  were  taken  by 
the  right  hand  and  sixty  by  the  left.  The  total 
pressure  exerted  by  each  individual  in  the  240 
trick  (four  minutes)  was  then  recorded  and 
expressed  in  kilograms.  The  result  of  the 
experiment  is  shown  in  curve  B  of  Fig.  I. 
The  average  total  pressure  for  each  of  the 
five  persons  was  for  the  first  day  620  kilo- 
grams ;  for  the  twenty-fourth  day  1400  kilo- 
grams. Our  increase  was  very  rapid  for  the 


226      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

first  few  days,  and  no  general  slump  was  en- 
countered till  the  last  week  of  practice.  In 
one  particular  our  results  in  the  test  on  physi- 
cal strength  were  not  anticipated  —  we  did  not 
suppose  that  by  practicing  four  minutes  daily 
for  thirty  days  we  could  double  our  physical 
strength  in  any  such  a  series  of  maximum 
grips  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger. 

It  is  a  simple  matter  to  measure  day  by  day 
the  accomplishment  of  one  learning  to  use  the 
typewriter.  All  beginners  who  take  the  work 
seriously  and  work  industriously  pass  through 
similar  stages  in  this  learning  process.  Fig- 
ure 2  represents  the  record  for  the  first  eighty- 
six  days  of  a  learner  who  was  devoting,  in  all, 
sixty  minutes  daily  to  actual  writing.  The 
numbers  to  the  left  of  the  figure  in  the  vertical 
column  indicate  the  number  of  strokes  (in- 
cluding punctuations  and  shifts)  made  in  ten 
minutes.  The  numbers  on  the  base  line  indi- 
cate the  days  of  practice.  Thus  on  the  ninth 
day  the  learner  wrote  700  strokes  in  the  ten 
minutes  ;  on  the  fifty-fourth  day  1300  strokes ; 
on  the  eighty-sixth  day  over  1400  strokes. 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     227 


Figure  3  represents  the  results  of  a  writer 
of  some  little  experience  who  spent  one  hour  a 
day  writing  a  special  form  of  copy. 

In  this  curve  it  will  be  observed  that  the 


PRACTICE  CURVE  IN  LEARN  NG  TYPEWRITIN 


., 


., 


A/V 


NC  INDICATES  DAYS 

^Ra»Dnr" 


ES  NUMBER 


FIG.  2. 

increase  in  efficiency  was  very  great  during 
the  first  few  weeks,  but  that  during  the 
succeeding  weeks  little  improvement  was 
made.  —  BOOK,  W.  F.,  "The  Psychology  of 
Skill,"  p.  20. 


228      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 


The   progress   of   a   telegraph   operator   is 
determined  by  the  number  of  words  which  he 


1900 


PRACTICE  CURVE  FOR  DEVELOPING 
TH|LTQUCKSYSTEJMLIN  fYPE.WRJT- 

(FOR  ONE  PERSON1) 

INE  INDICATES  DAYS  OF  PRACTICE 
ICE  FROM  BASE  LINE  INDICATES— 
NUMBERJDF  STROKES  MADE  1N,TJEJ« 


Ift 


2O 


30 


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FIG.  3. 

can  send  or  receive  with  accuracy  per  minute. 
In  learning  telegraphy,  progress  is  rapid  for  a 
few  weeks  and  then  follow  many  weeks  of  less 
rapid  improvement.  Figure  4  presents  the 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     229 

history  of  a  student  of  telegraphy  who  was 
devoting  all  his  time  to  sending  and  receiving 
messages.  His  speed  was  measured  once  a 
week  from  his  first  week  to  the  time  when  he 


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FIG.  4. 

could  be  classed  as  a  fully  accomplished  opera- 
tor. By  the  twentieth  week  this  operator 
could  receive  less  than  70  letters  a  minute,  al- 
though he  could  send  over  120  letters  a  min- 
ute. At  the  end  of  the  fortieth  week  he  had 


230      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

reached  a  speed  of  sending  which  he  would 
probably  never  greatly  excel  even  though 
his  speed  was  far  below  that  attained  by  many 
operators.  The  receiving  rate  might  possibly 
rise  either  slowly  or  rapidly  until  it  equaled 
or  exceeded  the  sending  rate.  —  BRYAN  & 
HARTER,  "  Studies  in  the  Physiology  and  Psy- 
chology of  the  Telegraphic  Language,"  Psy- 
chological Review,  Vol.  IV,  p.  49. 

There  are  certain  forms  of  learning  and 
practice  which  do  not  readily  admit  of  quanti- 
tative determinations.  Nevertheless  very  suc- 
cessful attempts  have  been  made  even  in  the 
most  difficult  realms  of  learning.  A  beginner 
with  the  Russian  language  spent  30  minutes 
daily  in  industrious  study  and  then  was  tested 
for  15  minutes  as  to  the  number  of  Russian 
words  he  could  translate.  Figure  5  shows 
diagrammatically  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ment. Thus  on  the  thirteenth  day  22  words 
were  translated ;  on  the  fiftieth  day  45  words. 
Improvement  was  rather  rapid  until  the  nine- 
teenth day,  and  then  followed  a  slump  till  the 
forty-sixth  day.  Improvement  was  very  ir- 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     231 


regular.  —  SWIFT,  E.  J.,  "Mind  in  the  Mak- 
ing," p.  198. 

These  five  figures  are  typical  of  nearly  all 


BO 
75 

70 
65 
60 
55 
50 
45 
40 
35 
30 
25 
20 
15 


RATE  OF  LEARNING  RUSSIAN 


BA§E  LINE  INDICATES  DAYS  ,OF  STUDY. 
DISTANCE  FR.OM  BASE  LINE  INDICATES 
WORDS  TRANSLATED  IN  FIFTEEN  MINUTES 


5   1O   15   20   25   3O   35   4O   45   SO   55  6O  65 


FIG.  5. 


practice,  or  learning,  curves.  They  depict  the 
rate  at  which  the  beginner  increases  his  effi- 
ciency. In  every  case  we  discover  very  great 


Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

fluctuations.  On  one  day  or  at  one  moment 
there  is  a  sudden  phenomenal  improvement. 
The  next  day  or  even  the  next  moment  the 
increase  may  be  lost  and  a  return  made  to  a 
lower  stage  of  efficiency. 

There  are  certain  forms  of  skill  which  can- 
not be  acquired  rapidly  in  the  beginning.  In 
such  instances  a  period  of  time  is  necessary 
in  which  to  "warm  up"  or  in  which  to  acquire 
the  knack  of  the  operation  or  the  necessary 
degree  of  familiarity  and  self-confidence  be- 
fore improvement  becomes  possible.  This  is 
true  particularly  in  the  "breaking  in"  of  new 
operators  on  large  machines -like  steam  ham- 
mers, cranes,  and  the  like,  where  the  mass  and 
power  of  the  machine  awes  the  new  man,  even 
though  he  has  had  experience  with  smaller 
units  of  some  kind.  It  applies  also  to  new 
inspectors  of  mechanical  parts  and  completed 
products  in  factories  —  especially  where  the 
factor  of  judgment  enters  into  the  operation. 
Such  instances  are  exceptions,  however,  and 
differ  from  those  cited  only  in  having  a  period  of 
slow  advance  preliminary  to  the  rapid  progress. 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     233 

Apparently,  improvement  should  be  con- 
tinuous until  the  learner  has  entered  into  the 
class  of  experts  or  has  reached  his  possible 
maximum.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  curve 
which  expresses  his  advance  towards  efficiency 
never  rises  steadily  from  a  low  degree  to  a  high 
one.  Periods  of  improvement  are  universally 
followed  by  stages  of  stagnation  or  retrogres- 
sion. These  periods  of  little  or  no  improve- 
ment following  periods  of  rapid  improvement 
are  called  "plateaus"  and  are  found  in  the  ex- 
perience of  all  who  are  acquiring  skill  in  any 
line. 

These  plateaus  are  not  all  due  to  the  same 
cause. 

They  differ  somewhat  with  individuals  and 
even  more  with  the  nature  of  the  task  in  which 
skill  is  being  acquired.  With  all,  however,  the 
following  four  factors  are  the  most  important 
influence :  — 

1.  The  enthusiasm  dependent  upon  novelty 
becomes  exhausted. 

2.  All  easy  improvements  have  been  made. 

3.  A  period  of  "incubation"  is  needed  in 


234      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

which  the  new  habits  under  formation  may 
have  time  to  develop. 

4.  Voluntary  attention  cannot  be  sustained 
for  a  long  period  of  time. 

These  four  factors  are  not  only  the  causes 
of  the  first  plateau,  but,  as  soon  as  any  par- 
ticular plateau  is  overcome  and  advance 
again  begun,  they  are  likely  to  arrest  the  ad- 
vance and  to  cause  another  period  of  reces- 
sion or  of  no  advance.  These  four  factors 
are  therefore  most  significant  to  every  man 
who  is  trying  to  increase  his  own  efficiency  or 
promote  the  progress  of  others. 

When  the  interest  in  work  is  dependent  on 
novelty,  the  plateau  comes  early  in  the  develop- 
ment, and  further  progress  is  possible  only  by  the 
injection  of  new  motives  to  action. 

Many  young  persons  begin  things  with  en- 
thusiasm, but  drop  them  when  the  novelty  has 
worn  off.  They  develop  no  stable  interests 
and  in  all  their  tasks  are  superficial.  They 
often  have  great  potential  ability,  but  lack 
training  in  habits  of  industry  and  of  con- 
tinued application.  They  change  positions 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     235 

often,  acquire  much  diversified  experience, 
and  frequently,  in  a  new  position,  give  promise 
of  developing  unusual  skill  or  ability.  This 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  during  the  first  weeks  or 
months  of  their  new  employment  the  novelty 
of  the  work  stimulates  them  to  activity,  and  the 
methods  or  habits  learned  in  other  trades  are 
available  for  application  to  the  new  tasks. 
When  the  novelty  wears  off,  however,  they 
become  wearied  and  cast  about  for  a  fresh  and 
therefore  more  alluring  field.  Such  nomads 
prove  unprofitable  employees  even  when  they 
are  the  means  of  introducing  new  methods  or 
short  cuts  into  a  business.  They  strike  a 
plateau  and  lose  interest  and  initiative  just 
at  the  point  where  more  industrious  and  less 
superficial  men  would  begin  to  be  of  the 
greatest  value. 

Plateaus  are  not  confined  to  clerks  and  other 
subordinates.  Executives  frequently  "go 
stale"  on  their  jobs  and  lose  their  accustomed 
energy  and  initiative.  Sometimes  they  are 
able  to  diagnose  their  own  condition  and 
provide  the  corrective  stimulus.  Again  the 


236      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

man  higher  up,  if  he  has  the  wisdom  and 
discernment  which  some  gain  from  experi- 
ence, observes  the  situation  and  prescribes 
for  his  troubled  lieutenant.  In  the  ma- 
jority of  cases,  however,  the  occupant  of  a 
plateau,  if  he  continues  thereon  for  any 
length  of  time,  either  resigns  despondent  or 
is  dismissed. 

Such  a  case,  coming  under  my  notice  re- 
cently, illustrates  the  man-losses  suffered  by 
organizations  whose  heads  do  not  realize  that 
salaries  alone  will  not  buy  efficiency. 

A  young  advertising  man  had  almost  grown 
up  with  his  house,  coming  to  it  when  not  yet 
twenty  in  a  minor  position  in  the  sales  de- 
partment. Enthusiastic  about  his  possibil- 
ities, with  the  friendship  and  cooperation  of 
his  immediate  superior,  he  carried  out  well  the 
successive  duties  put  to  him.  Promotion  was 
rapid.  No  position  was  retained  more  than 
six  months.  In  five  years  he  had  occupied 
nearly  every  subordinate  position  in  the  sales 
department,  and  was  promoted  to  the  head  of 
the  mail-order  section. 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     237 

His  fertility  in  originating  plans,  his  schemes, 
his  booklets,  and  advertising  copy  brought 
results  with  regularity.  He  became  known  as 
a  man  who  could  "put  the  thing  over"  in  a 
pinch,  with  a  vigor  and  enthusiasm  that 
seemed  irresistible.  He  fairly  earned  his 
standing  as  the  live  wire  among  executives 
of  the  second  rank. 

So,  when  the  general  sales  manager  resigned, 
there  was  no  question  but  that  this  young  man 
should  succeed  him.  He  had  been  a  personal 
friend  of  his  predecessor,  had  cooperated  with 
him  in  many  phases  of  his  work,  and  knew  his 
new  duties  well ;  in  fact,  he  took  them  up  with 
little  necessity  for  "breaking  in." 

This  apparently  favorable  condition  was  the 
very  reason  for  his  lack  of  success  in  the  new 
work.  There  was  not  the  novelty  in  this  posi- 
tion that  there  had  been  in  his  former  succes- 
sive positions.  In  such  an  executive  position, 
it  was  not  a  question  of  taking  care  of  an  emer- 
gency demand,  but  of  organization,  of  estab- 
lishing routine,  of  organizing  bigger  campaigns. 
Before  the  end  of  the  first  season  it  became  evi- 


238      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

dent  that  the  new  sales  manager  was  not  mak- 
ing good.  Everything  —  organization,  disci- 
pline, routine  system,  ginger  —  had  deserted 
him.  Neither  he  himself  nor  his  employers, 
however,  found  the  real  cause.  "I  have  lost 
my  grip,"  he  told  the  general  manager.  "I 
am  worn  out  and  of  no  further  use  to  this 
business." 

Furthermore  he  thought  he  was  of  no  use 
to  any  business.  But  he  made  a  connection 
with  a  big  house  which  had  a  large  adver- 
tising campaign  on  its  hands.  He  threw  him- 
self into  the  task  of  recasting  the  firm's  selling 
literature,  the  planning  of  new  campaigns, 
and  the  reorganization  of  the  correspondence 
department.  Within  the  year,  he  had  dupli- 
cated on  a  magnified  scale  his  early  triumphs 
with  his  first  employers.  Moreover,  he  contin- 
ued this  record  of  efficiency  the  second  year, 
thus  entirely  refuting  the  fear  of  himself 
and  his  friends  that  he  would  "last  less 
than  a  year"  and  that  he  lacked  staying 
power. 

His  first  employer  described  the  case  for  me 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     239 

the  other  day,  requesting  that  I  discover  the 
reason  for  the  young  man's  initial  failure  among 
friends  and  his  subsequent  triumph  in  a  new 
environment.  He  had  kept  in  close  touch  with 
the  other's  progress  and  supplied  a  hundred 
details  which  helped  to  make  the  situation 
clear.  Finally,  after  consideration,  he  agreed 
with  my  diagnosis  that  his  young  friend's 
falling  off  in  efficiency  —  his  plateau  —  had 
been  due  to  the  exhaustion  of  novelty  interest 
in  his  work. 

His  first  success  was  built  on  a  long  series 
of  separate  plans  or  "stunts,"  each  of  which 
was  begun  and  executed  in  a  burst  of  creative 
enthusiasm.  His  first  few  months'  achieve- 
ment as  sales  manager  was  due  to  the  same 
stimulus,  but  as  the  months  went  by  the  spur 
of  novelty  became  dulled.  Lacking  the  dis- 
cipline which  would  have  enabled  him  to 
force  voluntary  attention  and  the  resulting 
interest  in  his  tasks,  he  failed  also  to  trace  the 
cause  of  his  flagging  invention  and  energy  and 
assumed  that  this  was  due  to  exhaustion  of  his 
resources. 


240      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

This  is  further  borne  out  by  his  experience 
in  his  present  position.  Addressing  a  succes- 
sion of  new  tasks,  the  interest  of  novelty  has 
stimulated  him  to  an  uncommon  degree  and 
produced  an  unbroken  record  of  high  efficiency. 
That  this  has  continued  over  a  considerable 
period  is  partly  due,  beyond  doubt,  to  the 
sustained  interest  in  his  work  excited  by  the 
broadness  of  the  field  before  him,  the  bigness 
of  the  company,  the  size  of  the  appropriation 
at  his  disposal,  the  unusual  experience  of  scor- 
ing hit  after  hit  by  comparison  with  the 
house's  low  standards,  the  frank  and  prompt 
appreciation  of  his  superiors,  and  substantial 
advances  in  salary. 

It  is  only  human  to  be  more  or  less  dependent 
upon  novelty.  If  I  am  to  stir  myself  to  con- 
tinuous and  effective  exertion,  I  must  fre- 
quently stimulate  my  interest  by  proposing  new 
problems  and  new  aspects  of  my  work.  If 
I  am  to  help  others  to  increase  their  efficiency, 
I  must  devise  new  appeals  to  their  interest  and 
new  stimulations  to  action.  If  I  have  been 
dependent  upon  competition  as  a  stimulus 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     241 

I  must  change  the  form  of  the  contest  —  a 
fact  which  receives  daily  recognition  and 
application  by  the  most  efficient  sales  organi- 
zation in  the  country.  If  I  have  been  de- 
pending upon  the  stimulating  effect  of  wages, 
there  is  profit  occasionally  in  varying  the 
method  of  payment  or  in  furnishing  some  new 
concrete  measure  of  the  value  of  the  wage.  To 
the  average  worker,  for  example,  a  check  means 
much  less  than  the  same  amount  in  gold.  In 
deference  to  this  common  appreciation  of 
"cold  cash,"  various  firms  have  lately  aban- 
doned checks  and  pay  in  gold  and  banknotes, 
even  though  this  change  means  many  hours 
of  extra  work  for  the  cashier. 

At  every  stage  of  our  learning,  progress  is  aided 
by  the  utilization  of  old  habits  and  old  fragments 
of  knowledge. 

In  learning  to  add,  the  schoolboy  employs 
his  previous  knowledge  of  numbers.  In  learn- 
ing to  multiply  he  builds  upon  his  acquaint- 
ance with  addition  and  subtraction.  In  solv- 
ing problems  in  percentage  his  success  is 
measured  by  the  freedom  with  which  he  can 


242      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

use  the  four  fundamental  processes  of  addition, 
subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division.  In 
computing  bank  discount,  his  skill  is  based  on 
ability  to  employ  his  previous  experience  with 
percentage  and  the  fundamental  processes  of 
arithmetic. 

The  advance  here  is  typical  of  all  learning 
processes.  In  mastering  the  typewriter  no 
absolutely  new  movement  is  required.  The 
old  familiar  movements  of  arm  and  hand  are 
united  in  new  combinations.  The  student  has 
previously  learned  the  letters  found  in  the  copy 
and  can  identify  them  upon  the  keys  of  the 
typewriter.  Scrutiny  enables  him  to  find  any 
particular  key,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours 
he  develops  a  certain  awkward  familiarity  with 
the  keyboard  and  acquires  some  speed  by 
utilizing  these  familiar  muscular  movements 
and  available  bits  of  knowledge.  All  these 
prelearned  movements  and  associations  are 
brought  into  service  in  the  early  stages  of 
improvement,  and  a  degree  of  proficiency  is 
quickly  attained  which  cannot  be  exceeded 
so  long  as  these  prelearned  habits  and  asso- 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     243 

ciations  alone  are  employed.  Further  ad- 
vance in  speed  and  accuracy  is  dependent 
upon  combinations  more  difficult  to  make 
because  they  involve  organization  of  the  old 
and  acquisition  of  new  methods  of  thought  or 
movement.  When  such  a  difficulty  is  faced,  a 
plateau  in  the  learning  curve  is  almost  inevi- 
table. 

The  young  man  who  enters  upon  the  work 
of  a  salesman  can  make  immediate  use  of  a 
multitude  of  previous  habits  and  previously 
acquired  bits  of  knowledge.  He  performs  by 
habit  all  the  ordinary  movements  of  the  body ; 
by  habit  he  speaks,  reads,  and  writes.  During 
his  previous  experience  he  has  acquired  some 
skill  in  judging  people,  in  addressing  them,  and 
in  influencing  them.  His  general  information 
and  his  practice  in  debate  and  conversation  — 
however  crude  —  enable  him  to  analyze  his 
selling  proposition  and  unite  these  selling 
points  into  an  argument.  He  learns,  too,  to 
avoid  certain  errors  and  to  make  use  of  cer- 
tain factors  of  his  previous  experience.  Thus 
his  progress  is  rapid  for  a  short  time  but  soon 


244      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

the  stage  is  reached  where  his  previous  expe- 
rience offers  no  more  factors  which  can  be  easily 
brought  to  his  service.  In  such  an  emergency 
the  novice  may  cease  to  advance  —  if  indeed 
there  is  not  a  positive  retrogression.  ,1 

Nor  is  this  tendency  to  strike  a  plateau 
confined  to  clerks  in  the  office  and  to  semi- 
skilled men  in  the  factory.  Often  the  limi- 
tations of  a  new  executive  are  brought  out 
sharply  by  his  failure  to  handle  a  situation 
much  less  difficult  than  scores  which  he  has 
already  mastered  and  thereby  built  up  a  repu- 
tation for  unusual  efficiency.  His  collapse, 
when  analyzed,  can  usually  be  traced  to  the 
fact  that  his  previous  experience  contained 
nothing  on  which  he  could  directly  base  a 
decision.  His  prior  efficiency  was  based  on 
empirical  knowledge  rather  than  on  judgment 
or  ability  to  analyze  problems. 

The  office  manager  of  an  important  mer- 
cantile house  is  a  case  in  point.  Though 
young,  he  had  served  several  companies  in 
the  same  capacity,  making  a  distinct  advance 
at  each  change.  He  was  a  trained  accountant, 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     245 

a  clever  employment  man,  and  a  successful 
handler  of  men  and  women.  His  association 
with  the  various  organizations  from  which  he 
had  graduated  gave  him  an  unusual  fund  of 
practical  knowledge  and  tried-out  methods  to 
draw  upon. 

His  first  six  months  were  starred  with  bril- 
liant detail  reorganizations.  The  shipping 
department,  first ;  the  correspondence  division 
next ;  the  accounting  department  third,  and  he 
literally  swept  through  the  office  like  the  pro- 
verbial new  broom,  caught  up  all  the  loose 
ends,  and  established  a  routine  like  clockwork. 
So  successful  was  his  work  that  the  directors 
hastened  to  add  supervision  of  sales  and  col- 
lections. 

Forthwith  the  new  manager  struck  his 
plateau.  His  previous  experience  offered  lit- 
tle he  could  readily  use  in  shaping  a  sales  pol- 
icy or  laying  out  a  collection  program.  He 
plunged  into  the  details  of  both,  effected  some 
important  minor  economies,  but  failed  alto- 
gether —  as  subsequent  events  showed  —  to 
grasp  the  constructive  needs  and  opportunities 


246      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

of  management.  He  puzzled  and  irritated  his 
district  managers  by  overemphasizing  details 
when  they  wanted  decisions  or  policies  or 
help  in  handling  sales  emergencies.  In  the 
same  way,  he  neglected  collections,  —  chiefly 
because  he  could  not  distinguish  between  de- 
tail and  questions  of  policy,  —  but  escaped 
blame  for  more  than  six  months  because  the 
season  was  conceded  to  be  a  poor  one. 

Not  till  he  resigned  and  the  general  manager 
investigated  the  sales  and  collection  depart- 
ments did  the  real  cause  of  the  failure  become 
evident.  Important  and  numerous  as  had 
been  the  economies  instituted,  they  all  fell 
under  the  head  of  the  "easy  improvements" 
based  on  previous  experience  and  observation. 
When  problems  outside  this  experience  pre- 
sented themselves,  the  manager  encountered 
his  plateau. 

In  the  acquisition  of  skill,  days  of  progress 
are  followed  by  stationary  periods.  "  Time 
must  be  taken  out"  to  allow  the  formation  of  a 
habit  or  the  organization  of  this  new  knowledge 
or  skill. 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     247 

All  trees  and  plants  have  periods  of  growth 
followed  by  periods  of  little  or  no  growth.  In 
May  and  June  the  leaves  and  branches  shoot 
forth  very  rapidly,  but  the  new  growth  is 
pulpy  and  tender.  During  succeeding  days 
or  months,  these  tender  shots  are  filled  in  and 
developed.  In  learning  and  in  habit  forma- 
tion a  similar  sequence  is  lived  through.  We 
have  days  of  swift  advancement  followed  by 
days  in  which  the  new  stage  or  method  of 
thinking  and  acting  takes  time  to  become 
organized  and  solidified.  The  nervous  system 
has  to  adjust  itself  to  the  new  demands,  and 
such  adjusting  requires  time. 

Although  periods  of  incubation  are  essential 
for  every  specific  habit,  practically  every  act 
of  skill  is  dependent  upon  a  number  of  simpler 
habits.  At  anyone  time  progress  maybe  made 
in  utilizing  some  of  these  habits,  even  though 
others  could  not  be  advantageously  hastened. 
Thus  the  period  of  incubation  should  not 
necessarily  cause  any  profound  slump  in  the 
advance.  Almost  invariably,  however,  it  pro- 
duces a  plateau  which  persists  until  the  worker 


248      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

has  mastered  the  expert  way.  The  golf 
player,  for  example,  usually  finds  he  is  able 
to  drive  longer  and  straighter  balls  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  season  than  a  little  later.  The 
reason  is  that  in  golf  the  perfect  stroke  is  the 
product  of  almost  automatic  muscular  action. 
In  the  first  round  the  swing  of  the  driver  or 
iron  is  not  consciously  governed,  and  the  mus- 
cular habit  of  the  previous  year  controls. 
Later,  as  the  player  concentrates  on  his  task 
of  correcting  little  faults  or  learning  more 
effective  methods,  his  stroke  loses  its  auto- 
matic quality,  his  game  falls  off,  and  it  is  not 
until  he  masters  his  new  form  that  he  attains 
high  efficiency. 

The  same  cycle  is  repeated  in  office  and  fac- 
tory operations,  where  efficiency  is  possible 
only  when  the  hands  carry  out  automatically 
the  desired  action.  In  typewriting  and  te- 
legraphy, in  the  handling  of  adding  machines, 
in  the  feeding  of  drill  presses,  punch  presses, 
and  hundreds  of  special  machines,  the  learner 
passes  through  three  distinct  phases  :  first, 
swift  improvement  in  which  prelearned  move- 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     249 

ments  and  skill  are  brought  to  bear  on  the  task 
under  the  stimulus  of  both  novelty  interest  and 
voluntary  interest ;  second,  arrested  progress  — 
theperiodof  incubationor  habit  formation ;  and 
the  final  stage  of  automatic  skill  and  efficiency. 

Since  increase  of  efficiency  is  dependent  upon 
continued  efforts  of  will,  slumps  are  inevitable. 
Voluntary  attention  cannot  be  sustained  for  a 
long  period. 

Work  requiring  effort  is  always  subject 
to  fluctuations.  The  man  with  a  strong  will 
may  make  the  lapses  in  attention  relatively 
short.  He  may  be  on  his  guard  and  "try  to 
try"  most  faithfully,  but  no  exertion  of  the  will 
can  keep  up  a  steady  expenditure  of  effort  in 
any  single  activity.  All  significant  increases 
in  efficiency,  however,  are  dependent  upon 
voluntary  attention  —  upon  extreme  exertions 
of  the  will. 

No  man  can  develop  into  an  expert  without 
great  exertion  of  the  will.  Such  exertions  of 
the  will  are  recognized  by  authorities  as  be- 
ing very  exhaustive  and  unstable.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  the  authorities  and  one  who  in 


250      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

particular  has  emphasized  the  necessity  of 
a  "door-die"  attitude  of  work  concludes  his 
discussion  with  the  following  significant  ad- 
mission :  "All  this  suggests  that  if  one  wants 
to  improve  at  the  most  rapid  rate,  he  must 
work  when  he  can  feel  good  and  succeed,  then 
lounge  and  wait  until  it  is  again  profitable  to 
work.  It  is  when  all  the  conditions  are  favor- 
able that  the  forward  steps  or  new  adaptations 
are  made." 

Voluntary  attention  must  be  employed  in 
making  the  advance  step,  in  improving  our 
method  of  work,  and  in  making  any  sort  of 
helpful  changes.  But  voluntary  attention 
must  not  be  depended  upon  to  secure  steady 
and  continuous  utilization  of  the  improved 
method  or  rate  of  work.  To  secure  this  end, 
an  attempt  should  be  made  to  reduce  the 
work  to  habit  so  far  as  possible  and  also  to  se- 
cure spontaneous  interest  either  from  interest 
and  pleasure  in  the  work  itself  or  because  of 
the  reward  to  be  received. 

The  case  of  the  young  sales  manager,  de- 
scribed in  the  first  part  of  this  article,  suggests 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     251 

some  of  the  methods  by  which  this  interest 
can  be  secured.  The  chief  factor  in  his  prog- 
ress was  the  interest  in  the  work  itself  due  to 
the  novelty  of  his  successive  tasks  —  an  ele- 
ment impossible  to  introduce  into  the  average 
man's  job.  Yet  there  were  other  and  powerful 
motives  stimulating  his  interest :  the  respon- 
sibility of  organizing  a  big  department  and  of 
directing  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of 
money ;  the  prompt  credit  given  him  and  the 
growing  confidence  extended  to  him ;  and  the 
expression  of  their  appreciation  in  the  concrete 
shape  of  salary  increases. 

It  is  quite  true  that  these  various  stimulat- 
ing factors  cannot  be  produced  indefinitely; 
tasks  must  "stale,"  praise  grow  monotonous, 
salaries  touch  their  top  level.  But  "making 
good  "  and  finding  interests  in  work  crystallize 
into  habits  which  endure  as  long  as  conditions 
remain  fair.  The  rise  of  the  efficiency  curve 
thus  depends  upon  recurrent  periods  of  suc- 
cessful struggle  followed  by  periods  of  habit 
formation  and  by  the  development  of  power- 
ful spontaneous  interests. 


252      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Voluntary  interest  is  a  valuable  thing  to 
possess,  but  a  difficult  thing  to  secure  either 
within  ourselves  or  in  those  under  our  charge. 

In  its  psychological  aspect,  scientific  man- 
agement enters  here.  By  working  out  and 
establishing  a  standard  method  and  standard 
time  for  various  "repeat"  operations  a  work- 
man is  engaged  in,  it  encourages  —  and  even 
enforces  —  the  formation  of  new  efficiency 
habits.  The  bonus  paid  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  task  in  the  specified  time  supplies 
an  immediate  and  powerful  motive  to  the  effort 
necessary  to  master  the  "right  way"  of  doing 
things. 

In  the  main,  employees  do  their  best  to  ac- 
quire efficiency;  but  their  humanness  must 
not  be  forgotten,  and  the  burden  of  increasing 
efficiency  must  be  carried  largely  by  the  execu- 
tive. His  part  it  is  to  supply  interest ;  if 
the  nature  of  the  work  forbids  the  finding  of 
it  there,  he  must  introduce  it  from  outside 
either  by  competition,  by  emphasizing  the 
connection  between  the  task  and  the  reward, 
as  in  piecework,  or  by  provision  of  a  bonus 


The  Rate  of  Improvement  in  Efficiency     253 

for  the  achievement  of  a  certain  standard  of 
efficiency. 

He  must  eliminate  the  factors  in  environ- 
ment or  organization  which  distract  employees 
and  make  voluntary  interest  more  difficult. 
He  must  provide  the  means  of  training  and 
must  understand  the  possibilities  and  the 
limitations  of  training.  If  a  man  "slumps" 
in  efficiency,  he  must  look  for  the  cause  and 
make  sure  this  is  not  beyond  the  man's  control 
before  he  punishes  him.  In  a  word,  he  must 
allow  for  periods  of  incubation  or  unconscious 
organization  before  expecting  maximum  results 
from  a  new  employee  or  an  old  man  assigned 
to  a  new  job. 

The  man  who  by  persistent  effort  has  devel- 
oped himself  into  an  expert  has  greatly  enhanced 
his  value  to  society.  The  boss  who  demands  ex- 
pert service  from  untrained  men  is  either  a  tyrant 
or  a  fool.  But  the  executive  who  develops  novices 
into  experts  and  the  company  which  transforms 
mere  "handy  men"  into  mechanics  are  public 
benefactors  because  of  the  service  rendered  to  the 
country  and  their  men. 


CHAPTER  XI 
PRACTICE  PLUS  THEORY 

THE  demand  for  trained  and  experienced 
men  is  never  supplied.  Most  business 
and  industrial  organizations  find  their 
growth  impeded  by  the  dearth  of  such  men. 
To  employ  men  trained  by  competitors 
or  by  inferior  organizations  is  expensive  and 
unsatisfactory.  A  man  trained  till  he  has 
become  valuable  to  his  "parent"  organization 
is  not  likely  to  be  equally  valuable  to  other 
organizations  that  might  employ  him  at  a 
later  time.  In  general,  the  most  valuable 
men  in  any  organization  are  the  men  who 
have  grown  up  in  it. 

The  man  who  is  "a  rolling  stone"  secures, 
in  a  way,  more  experience  than  the  man  who  is 
developed  within  a  single  organization,  but  his 
wider  experience  does  not  of  necessity  make 
him  a  more  valuable  man.  It  is  not  mere 

254 


Practice  plus  Theory  255 

experience  that  educates,  develops,  and  equips 
men,  but  experience  of  particular  sorts,  and 
acquired  under  very  well  defined  conditions. 

"Scientific  management"  has  taken  seri- 
ously the  problem  of  providing  and  utilizing 
the  most  valuable  experiences.  But  the  view- 
point of  the  leaders  in  this  modern  movement 
is  that  of  the  employer  seeking  the  most  valu- 
able experiences  for  those  employees  whose 
work  is  mainly  mechanical,  e.g.  machine 
tenders,  stenographers,  etc.  Scientific  man- 
agement has  conclusively  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  it  is  poor  economy  to  depend  upon 
haphazard  experiences  for  the  development 
of  those  employees  whose  excellence  depends 
upon  the  speed  and  accuracy  of  their  occupa- 
tion habits.  It  has  thus  done  great  service 
in  demonstrating  the  kind  of  experience  most 
valuable  in  developing  men  for  positions  of 
routine  work.  But  it  has  done  little  for  men 
whose  welfare  depends  upon  judgment  —  in 
making  new  adjustments  and  in  solving  the 
new  problems  continually  arising  in  all  posi- 
tions of  responsibility.  It  has  left  for  others 


256      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  consider  the  experiences  most  profitable 
for  developing  executives. 

The  most  valuable  experience  in  acquiring 
an  act  of  skill  is  frequent  repetition  in  perform- 
ing the  act. 

The  value  of  the  experience  continues  till 
by  frequent  repetition  the  act  has  become  so 
mechanical  that  it  is  performed  without  at- 
tention. Further  experience  has  little  or  no 
value. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  true  that  every 
worthy  calling  demands  forms  of  activity  which 
could  not  and  should  not  be  mechanized. 
There  are  emergencies  in  every  form  of  occu- 
pation that  call  for  new  adjustments.  The 
ability  to  make  such  new  adjustments  de- 
pends upon  richness  of  experience  and  width 
of  view  as  well  as  upon  skill  in  performing 
the  old  processes. 

The  difference  between  a  machine  and  a 
man  is  that  the  man  is  capable  of  adjusting 
himself  to  the  changed  situation,  while  a  ma- 
chine cannot  do  so.  The  machine  may  work 
more  accurately  and  more  rapidly  than  the  man 


Practice  plus  Theory  257 

in  routine  work,  but  it  is  capable  of  nothing 
but  routine  work.  There  is  a  need  for  much 
experience  to  make  the  man  approximate  the 
skill  and  accuracy  obtained  by  a  machine. 
But  there  is  also  need  of  experience  to  develop 
the  man  in  that  particular  in  which  he  sur- 
passes a  machine,  i.e.  in  a  broad  experience 
that  enables  him  to  form  judgments  and  hence 
to  make  a  multitude  of  different  adjustments 
when  a  need  for  a  change  occurs. 

A  machine  is  constructed  to  perform  a 
particular  kind  of  routine  work  in  a  stereo- 
typed way,  but  so  soon  as  there  is  discovered  a 
better  way  of  performing  this  work  the  ma- 
chine is  thrown  to  the  scrap  heap  because  it 
cannot  be  adjusted  to  new  requirements. 

Experience  which  renders  human  activity 
machine-like  is  a  form  of  experience  that  in- 
creases the  probability  that  the  possessor  will  be 
discarded  and  his  work  accomplished  by  the 
introduction  of  some  new  tool  or  some  new 
method  of  work. 

Experience  therefore  which  merely  increases 
the  skill  of  action  without  increasing  the  width 


258      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

of  horizon  is  necessary,  but  it  is  inadequate. 
In  addition  to  skill  in  routine  work  the  man 
should  secure  the  broader  experience  that  will 
enable  him  to  adjust  himself  to  changed  con- 
ditions in  his  occupation  and  that  will  develop 
the  judgment  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
adjust  his  vocation  to  new  demands.  Every 
form  of  occupation  has  many  possibilities,  a 
few  of  which  are  from  time  to  time  discovered 
to  be  significant.  Advance  in  any  sphere  of 
work  depends  upon  the  discovery  of  these 
possibilities  which  the  untrained  eye  of  inex- 
perience does  not  detect.  Although  a  broad 
experience  may  enable  the  man  to  grasp  the 
possibilities  of  his  occupation,  it  fails  to  secure 
skill  in  the  particulars  that  have  already  been 
found  to  be  important.  While  a  broad  ex- 
perience leaves  a  man  incapable  of  present 
competition,  the  narrow  experience  jeop- 
ardizes his  future. 

The  most  valuable  experience  is  therefore 
one  that  equips  the  man  to  compete  with  the 
skillful  in  the  present  and  to  comprehend  his 
task  so  that  he  may  from  time  to  time  adjust 


Practice  plus  Theory  259 

it  to  new  relationships.  It  emphasizes  the 
formation  of  necessary  habits,  but  does  not 
neglect  the  development  of  the  judgment. 
Such  an  experience  is  both  intensive  and  ex- 
tensive ;  informal  and  formal ;  mechanical 
and  theoretical ;  practical  and  scientific.  Such 
experience  alone  meets  the  demands  of  the 
increasing  complexity  of  industrial  and  com- 
mercial life. 

HOW   MAY  THE   MOST   VALUABLE   EXPERIENCE 
BE    SECURED    AND    UTILIZED 

I.     Haphazard  Experience 

But  little  attention  is  given  to  providing 
those  experiences  that  most  adequately  pre- 
pare one  for  commercial  and  industrial  life. 
The  boy  who  is  to  become  a  skilled  workman 
is  compelled  to  "pick  up"  his  experience  as 
best  he  can.  The  same  is  true  of  the  boy  who 
aspires  to  a  position  as  salesman,  banker,  or 
manufacturer.  Every  employer  seeks  only 
experienced  men,  and  but  few  places  are  avail- 
able where  such  experience  can  be  economically 
and  honorably  secured. 


160      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

The  youth  without  experience,  desiring  to 
become  a  skilled  machinist,  may  secure  some 
experience  with  machinery  in  a  second-rate 
factory  during  the  rush  season.  Because  of 
his  incapacity,  he  is  laid  off  as  soon  as  the  rush 
is  over.  Thereupon  he  applies  as  an  experi- 
enced machinist  in  a  better  shop.  If  he  is 
lucky,  he  may  secure  a  position.  If  the  super- 
vision is  inadequate,  or  the  demand  for  labor 
unusual,  he  may  retain  his  position  for  several 
hours,  or  days,  or  even  weeks.  After  years 
of  such  distressing  experiences,  the  youth  suc- 
ceeds in  "stealing  his  trade."  In  the  mean- 
time he  has  been  an  economic  loss  to  his  many 
employers,  and  his  experience  may  have  de- 
praved his  character. 

The  condition  found  in  the  industrial  world 
is  no  worse  than  that  in  the  commercial  world. 
The  selling  force  is  recuperated  by  green  hands. 
In  most  selling  organizations  no  instruction  is 
given  and  no  experience  provided  except  what 
is  picked  up  haphazard  behind  the  counter  or 
on  the  road.  Most  new  men  fail,  are  dis- 
missed, employed  by,  another  firm  and  dis- 


Practice  plus  Theory  261 

missed  again,  etc.  We  have  here  nothing  but 
a  struggle  for  existence  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  in  a  crude  and  destructive  form. 

The  burnt  child  avoids  the  fire,  and  his 
experience  is  most  effective.  However,  the 
wise  parent  arranges  conditions  so  that  the 
burn  shall  not  be  too  serious.  The  machinist 
who  "steals"  his  trade  profits  greatly  by  his 
mistakes,  and  the  new  salesman  never  forgets 
some  of  his  most  flagrant  errors.  Such  expe- 
riences are  practical,  lasting,  effective,  but 
uneconomical.  But  such  experiences  are  of 
necessity  unsystematic  and  inadequate  to 
modern  industrial  and  commercial  demands. 

//.     Apprenticeship  Experience 

The  waste  in  the  Haphazard  method  of 
securing  experience  in  the  industrial  world 
has  long  been  apparent  and  has  led  to  attempts 
to  provide  systems  of  apprenticeships  which 
would  enable  the  youth  to  secure  educative 
experiences  with  a  minimum  of  cost  to  himself 
and  his  employer. 

In  theory  the  youth  who  becomes  an  ap- 


262      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

prentice  is  bound  or  indentured  to  serve  his 
master  for  a  period  of  years.  During  that 
time  the  master  agrees  to  see  to  it  that  the 
apprentice  practices  and  becomes  proficient  in 
performing  all  the  processes  of  the  trade. 
The  employer  (master)  is  rewarded  in  that 
he  secures  the  continuous  service  of  the  boy 
for  the  period  of  years  upon  the  payment  of 
little  or  no  wages.  Furthermore  the  appren- 
tice when  developed  into  a  journeyman  is 
likely  to  become  a  valuable  employee.  The 
apprentice  is  rewarded  for  his  years  of  service 
by  the  practical  experience  which  he  has  been 
permitted  to  secure  in  actual  work  with  all  the 
various  processes  involved  in  the  trade. 

Although  the  apprenticeship  system  has 
many  excellent  points,  it  has  been  found 
inadequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  modern  com- 
mercial and  industrial  institutions.  At  least 
in  its  primitive  form  it  is  decadent  in  every 
industry  which  has  been  modernized.  All 
forms  of  commerce  and  industry  have  become 
so  complicated  and  each  part  demands  such 
perfection  of  skill  that  an  apprentice  can 


Practice  plus  Theory  263 

scarcely  secure  sufficient  experience  in  even 
the  essentials  of  the  trade  to  render  him  expert 
in  these  various  processes.  In  short,  the  tra- 
ditional apprenticeship  system  is  unable  to 
give  either  the  general  comprehension  of  the 
industry  or  the  skill  in  the  specialized  processes. 

///.     Theoretical-practical  Experience 

In  contrast  with  the  two  methods  dis- 
cussed above  (Haphazard  Experience  and 
Apprenticeship  Experience)  schools  must  be 
considered  as  a  method  of  providing  experi- 
ences preparatory  to  industrial  life.  The  first 
two  methods  secure  skill,  but  the  schools  se- 
cure learning.  The  first  two  might  be  said  to 
educate  the  hands  and  the  latter  the  head. 
The  comparative  advantages  of  these  con- 
trasted systems  is  the  theme  of  unceasing 
debate.  The  man  skilled  in  one  thing  can  at 
least  do  that  one  thing  well.  The  man  who  is 
learned  but  not  skilled  in  any  activity  of  his 
chosen  occupation  is  unable  to  compete  with 
the  boys  who  at  the  expense  of  schooling, 
"went  to  work"  in  that  particular  occupation. 


264      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

An  advanced  general  school  education  has 
very  distinct  advantages.  But  skill  in  read- 
ing Latin  does  not  greatly  increase  one's  abil- 
ity to  read  instruments  of  precision.  Skill  in 
applying  mathematical  formulae  will  not  greatly 
assist  in  estimating  the  value  of  merchandise. 
A  knowledge  of  general  psychology  will  not 
insure  ability  in  selecting  employees.  Even 
great  proficiency  in  discoursing  upon  ethical 
theories  does  not  protect  one  from  the  tempta- 
tion to  be  dishonest  in  business. 

Skill  in  one  thing  does  not  insure  skill  in 
other  and  even  in  similar  things.  Learning 
in  one  field  is  not  incompatible  with  gross 
ignorance  in  other  and  related  fields.  We 
have  discovered  that  skill  and  learning  are 
largely  specialized,  and  accordingly  we  see  the 
necessity  of  acquiring  skill  and  learning  in  the 
particular  fields  in  which  the  skill  and  learn- 
ing are  desired.  To  meet  these  demands 
various  modifications  in  our  schools  have  been 
made.  To  meet  the  needs  of  training  for  the 
industries  we  have  the  manual  training  schools, 
industrial  schools,  trade  schools,  continuation 


Practice  plus  Theory  265 

schools,  correspondence  schools,  night  schools, 
technological  schools,  etc.  To  provide  the 
appropriate  experiences  for  commercial  life 
we  have  commercial  schools,  business  col- 
leges, store  schools,  schools  of  commerce,  etc. 

These  schools  have  rendered  invaluable 
service  and  are  rapidly  increasing  in  number, 
yet  they  do  not  provide  either  the  skill  or  the 
learning  which  should  be  possessed  by  the 
employee. 

IF.     Practical-theoretical  Experience 

The  weakness  of  the  Haphazard  and  Ap- 
prenticeship methods  of  securing  experience 
is  twofold  :  (i)  They  cease  too  early.  So  soon 
as  the  man.  really  enters  into  his  occupation  his 
education  ceases.  (2)  They  are  too  narrow; 
they  failtoprovide  experiences  that  give  proper 
perspective ;  they  do  not  give  adequate 
theoretical  comprehension  of  the  work  being 
accomplished  from  day  to  day;  they  do  not 
develop  the  judgment. 

The  weakness  with  the  Theoretical-practical 
method  of  providing  experience  resembles 


266      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

the  weakness  of  the  Haphazard  and  the  Ap- 
prenticeship methods  in  that  it  ceases  too 
early.  It  ceases  before  the  individual  begins 
his  life  work.  It  may  have  the  special  weak- 
ness of  not  being  closely  organized  with  the 
vocation  for  which  it  is  assumed  to  be  a  prepa- 
ration, hence  of  being  impracticable. 

The  Practical-theoretical  form  of  providing 
experience  is  based  on  two  assumptions  :  The 
first  assumption  is  that  the  practical  and  the 
theoretical  should  be  equally  emphasized; 
that  they  should  be  closely  organized;  and 
that  the  theory  should  be  deduced  from  the 
practice.  The  second  assumption  is  that  the 
educative  processes  should  continue  so  long 
as  the  man  is  engaged  in  his  occupation. 

A  concrete  illustration  will  make  clear  the 
difference  between  the  four  different  methods  of 
acquiring  experience  as  given  above. 

During  the  present  summer  vacation  I  have 
been  spending  a  few  weeks  in  a  boarding  house. 
Some  previous  boarder  had  bequeathed  to  the 
house  an  intricate  Chinese  block  puzzle. 
During  this  summer  one  lad  in  the  house  spent 


Practice  plus  Theory  267 

eight  hours  in  solving  the  puzzle.  He  worked 
by  the  Haphazard  method,  trying  blindly,  till 
he  just  happened  to  get  it  right.  The  next 
attempt  did  not  take  so  long,  but  it  was  many 
days  before  he  could  solve  the  problem  rapidly. 

As  soon  as  the  lad  had  learned  to  solve  the 
puzzle,  my  son  watched  him  solve  it  many 
times,  and  kept  trying  to  do  it  as  he  saw  it 
done.  My  son  learned  to  solve  the  puzzle  in 
perhaps  two  hours  by  thus  watching  another 
and  then  trying  it  himself.  He  was  employing 
the  Apprenticeship  method,  and  his  education 
was  accomplished  in  one  fourth  the  time  re- 
quired by  the  Haphazard  method. 

In  the  boarding  house  was  an  expert  me- 
chanical engineer.  He  took  up  the  task  of 
solving  the  problem  and  was  most  scientific 
in  his  procedure.  He  figured  out  the  prin- 
ciples that  he  thought  might  be  involved, 
tried  them,  and  immediately  abandoned  meth- 
ods that  proved  unsuccessful.  He  was  able 
to  solve  the  puzzle  in  a  half  hour.  Later  trials 
were  all  successful  and  rapid.  He  knew  just 
how  he  had  solved  the  puzzle,  and  therefore 


268      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

did  not  have  to  experiment  or  take  chances  on 
later  trials.  This  engineer  employed  the 
Theoretical-practical  method  of  learning. 

The  engineer  volunteered  to  instruct  me  in 
the  problem.  I  took  up  the  blocks  and  began 
trying  to  unite  them.  As  one  difficulty  after 
another  arose,  I  was  given  instruction  in  the 
principle  for  overcoming  it.  No  principle 
was  presented  to  me  till  I  had  faced  a  situation 
demanding  that  particular  principle.  The 
practice  and  the  theory  went  together,  and  so 
far  as  the  instruction  was  concerned  the  prac- 
tice preceded  the  theory  step  by  step.  I  was 
therefore  employing  the  Practical-theoretical 
method.  As  a  result  I  was  enabled  to  solve 
the  problem  in  fifteen  minutes.  Furthermore 
I  knew  just  how  I  had  done  it  and  could  do  it 
again  and  could  apply  the  same  principles 
to  other  puzzles. 

A  comparison  of  these  results  is  most  in- 
structive. The  lad  who  went  at  it  blindly  by 
the  Haphazard  method  required  eight  hours 
and  even  then  did  not  analyze  out  the  prin- 
ciples that  would  help  him  solve  later  prob- 


Practice  plus  Theory  269 

lems.  My  son,  who  employed  the  Appren- 
ticeship method,  accomplished  his  task  in  two 
hours  but  discovered  no  principles.  His  work 
was  blindly  mechanical.  The  engineer  worked 
according  to  the  Theoretical-practical  method, 
completed  his  task  in  thirty  minutes,  and  under- 
stood perfectly  what  he  had  done.  By  em- 
ploying the  Practical-theoretical  method  I  was 
enabled  to  accomplish  the  task  in  fifteen 
minutes  and  to  understand  also  how  it  was 
done. 

Whether  I  have  in  mind  my  own  develop- 
ment or  that  of  my  employees,  if  I  am  seeking 
to  utilize  the  Practical-theoretical  method  of 
capitalizing  experience,  I  am  confronted  with 
two  problems :  (i)  How  shall  I  secure  or 
provide  the  requisite  practical  experiences  ? 
(2)  How  shall  I  secure  or  provide  the  appro- 
priate theoretical  interpretation  of  such  ex- 
periences ? 

During  recent  years  in  the  educational, 
industrial,  and  commercial  world  serious  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  answer  these  two 
questions,  and  the  results  are  most  significant. 


ijo     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

The  College  of  Engineering  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cincinnati  believes  that  it  has  solved 
the  problem  for  certain  fields  of  activity  by 
"cooperative  courses."  In  these  courses  the 
students  spend  one  week  in  some  manufac- 
turing plant  and  the  next  week  in  the  college. 
This  weekly  alternation  of  practical  and  theo- 
retical is  kept  up  for  six  years.  The  number 
of  students  in  the  college  and  the  number  of 
workers  in  the  manufacturing  plant  is  kept 
constant  by  dividing  each  group  of  students 
into  two  sections  which  alternate  with  each 
other,  so  that  when  one  section  is  at  the  college 
the  other  is  at  the  shop.  The  college  teaches 
the  principles  that  are  necessary  for  under- 
standing and  solving  the  problems  arising 
from  week  to  week  in  the  shop.  As  the  Dean 
of  the  college  expresses  it,  "It  aims  to  teach 
the  theory  underlying  the  work,  to  teach  the 
intent  of  the  work,  to  give  such  cultural  sub- 
jects as  will  tend  to  make  him  a  more  intelli- 
gent civic  unit."  It  is  thought  that  such 
cooperative  courses  could  be  arranged  by 
schools  of  different  ranks  of  advancement  and 


Practice  plus  Theory  271 

that  the  students  could  spend  their  alternate 
weeks  in  almost  any  class  of  industrial  or  com- 
mercial institution  of  importance. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  attempts  to 
provide  Practical-theoretical  experiences  of  an 
educative  sort  is  that  of  the  General  Electric 
Company  of  West  Lynn,  Massachusetts.  This 
institution  has  provided  a  corps  of  instructors 
and  rooms  devoted  exclusively  to  instruction 
within  the  plant  itself.  The  theoretical  in- 
struction is  assumed  to  be  perfectly  coordi- 
nated with  the  practical.  In  fact  the  young 
apprentice  spends  much  of  his  time  almost 
daily  in  constructing  commercial  articles  and 
under  the  same  conditions  that  will  confront 
him  in  later  years.  His  theoretical  instruc- 
tion is  thus  planned  to  help  him  to  accomplish 
his  practical  task  more  quickly,  perfectly,  and 
with  more  perfect  understanding.  The  train- 
ing is  so  broad  that  the  graduate  is  prepared  to 
become  an  industrial  foreman  in  any  mechani- 
cal establishment. 

The  John  Wanamaker  Commercial  Insti- 
tute of  Philadelphia  is  a  school  conducted 


272      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

within  the  store  and  for  the  benefit  of  the 
employees  of  the  store.  In  this  school  theo- 
retical instruction  is  given  that  is  designed  to 
give  the  principles  underlying  commercial 
life.  The  results  are  said  to  be  most  gratify- 
ing both  to  the  employer  and  the  employees. 

The  Practical-theoretical  form  of  education 
is  not  limited  to  the  apprentice  or  to  the  new 
employee  but  is  equally  valuable  to  the  ex- 
pert, the  oldest  employees,  and  the  employer. 
This  fact  is  taken  advantage  of  most  wisely 
by  the  National  Cash  Register  Company. 
This  company  provides  instruction  suited  to 
the  needs  of  all  its  salesmen,  whether  they  are 
new  and  inexperienced  or  whether  they  are  the 
oldest,  most  efficient  salesmen.  By  means  of 
letters,  books,  demonstrations,  and  conventions 
the  salesmen  are  constantly  provided  with 
educative  experiences  and  are  kept  from  the 
narrowness  and  lack  of  progress  so  character- 
istic of  men  in  the  commercial  life  after  they 
have  become  thoroughly  established  and  rela- 
tively efficient  in  their  work. 
?  In  keeping  with  this  modern  tendency  to 


Practice  plus  Theory  273 

supplement  practical  experience  with  theoreti- 
cal interpretation,  we  find  a  very  pronounced 
increase  in  the  utilization  of  all  agencies  that 
interpret  and  enrich  the  daily  toil.  Men  who 
are  fully  employed  (e.g.  journeymen  and  sales- 
men) have  realized  the  necessity  of  some  form 
of  theoretical  instruction  to  enable  them  to 
profit  by  their  daily  practical  experience. 
This  fact  is  almost  pathetically  demonstrated 
by  the  multitudes  who  are  seeking  for  such 
instruction  through  correspondence  and  even- 
ing schools.  Every  progressive  engineer, 
teacher,  physician,  and  lawyer  keeps  abreast 
of  the  best  thought  of  the  day  by  means  of 
frequent  conventions,  conferences,  books,  and 
periodicals.  The  experience  secured  from  such 
agencies  is  essential  to  progress ;  only  by  such 
agencies  can  he  learn  the  latest  and  most  per- 
fect interpretation  of  the  experience  of  his 
professional  life.  Likewise  the  non-profes- 
sional man  engaged  in  commerce  or  industry 
finds  the  modern  world  to  be  so  complex  that 
mere  practical  experience  is  no  longer  adequate 
to  enable  him  to  meet  the  demands  made 


274      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

upon  him.  The  theoretical  training  of  his 
youth  (even  though  it  include  the  college  and 
the  technical  school)  is  totally  inadequate  to 
interpret  for  him  the  new  relationships  which 
arise  from  day  to  day.  He  needs  a  theory 
that  grows  out  of  his  practical  experience  and 
that  enables  him  to  understand  and  to  improve 
upon  his  practical  work.  The  most  common 
means  for  providing  him  with  such  experience 
he  finds  in  his  conventions  and  informal  con- 
ferences with  his  peers  and  in  his  trade 
journals  and  technical  books. 

There  is  no  warfare  between  theory  and 
practice.  The  most  valuable  experience  de- 
mands both,  and  the  methods  of  procuring 
the  most  valuable  experience  in  business  and 
industry  demand  that  the  theory  should  sup- 
plement the  practice  and  not  precede  it. 
The  environment  most  conducive  to  securing 
and  utilizing  the  most  valuable  experience  is 
in  the  work-a-day  world.  But  this  is  the  very 
environment  in  which  men  become  engulfed 
in  the  practical  and  neglect  the  theoretical. 
To  the  extent  to  which  men  thus  neglect  the 


Practice  plus  Theory  275 

theoretical  do  they  lower  themselves  and  class 
themselves  with  mere  machines,  and  so  hasten 
the  day  when  they  shall  be  discarded.  Whether 
we  be  apprentices  or  experts,  employees  or 
employers,  we  are  all  in  a  similar  condition. 
In  every  case  advance  is  dependent  upon 
the  proper  utilization  of  practical  and  theo- 
retical experiences  —  upon  the  practical  ex- 
perience which  is  adequately  interpreted. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MAKING  EXPERIENCE  AN  ASSET:  JUDGMENT 
FORMATION 

WHY  is  it  that  of  two  men  who  are 
working  at  the  same  desk  or  bench 
the  one  acquires  valuable  experience 
rapidly  and  the  other  slowly  ? 

Why  is  it  that  of  two  houses  each  employing 
a  thousand  men  the  one  sees  its  employees 
securing  experiences  that  enhance  their  earn- 
ing capacity  rapidly,  but  the  other  house  is 
compelled  periodically  to  secure  new  blood  by 
importing  men  from  rival  firms  ? 

Modern  psychology  teaches  that  experience 
is  not  merely  the  best  teacher  but  the  only 
possible  teacher.  All  that  any  instructor  can 
do  is  to  select  and  to  provide  the  conditions 
necessary  for  appropriate  experiences  and  to 
stimulate  the  learner  to  make  the  most  of 
them.  The  ignorant  is  changed  into  the  learned 

276 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  277 

by  means  of  the  utilization  of  profitable  ex- 
periences. By  the  same  method  the  novice  is 
changed  into  the  expert ;  the  amateur  into  the 
professional ;  the  inefficient  into  the  efficient ; 
and  the  errand  boy  into  the  manager. 

One  of  the  most  important  questions  any 
man  can  ask  is  this  :  What  experience  am  I 
actually  getting  from  day  to  day  and  what  ex- 
perience might  my  situation  offer  ? 

One  of  the  most  important  questions  the 
employer  of  men  can  ask  is  this  :  How  much 
more  efficient  will  my  men  be  to-morrow  be- 
cause of  the  experience  of  to-day  ?  How 
might  their  experience  be  changed  or  utilized 
so  that  their  efficiency  might  be  increased 
more  rapidly  ? 

In  planning  to  secure  permanent  increase  in 
efficiency,  whether  for  one's  self  or  for  one's 
employees,  we  simplify  our  problem  by  con- 
sidering it  under  the  two  following  subdivi- 
sions :  — 

What  Experiences  are  Most  Valuable  ? 

How  may  these  Most  Valuable  Experiences 
be  Secured  and  Utilized  ? 


278      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Preparatory  to  the  answering  of  these  two 
questions  it  will  simplify  matters  to  consider 
the  general  conditions  which  affect  the  value 
of  experience. 

GENERAL  CONDITIONS  GIVING  VALUE  TO 
EXPERIENCE 

1.  Health  and  Vigor. 

The  mind  and  body  are  so  intimately  con- 
nected that  the  value  of  an  experience  is  seri- 
ously affected  by  depletion  or  exhaustion  of 
the  body.  The  experiences  acquired  when  one 
is  fresh  and  vigorous  are  remembered;  those 
acquired  when  one  is  tired  are  forgotten.  Most 
college  students  find  that  lessons  gotten  in  the 
morning  are  better  remembered  and  are  more 
readily  applied  than  those  learned  after  a  day 
of  exhaustive  work.  We  get  most  out  of  those 
experiences  secured  when  we  are  feeling  the 
most  vigorous,  whether  the  vigor  be  dependent 
upon  age,  rest,  or  general  health. 

2.  Experience  is  valuable  proportionately  as 
we  apply  ourselves  to  the  task  on  hand.     By 
intensity  of  application  we  not  only  accomplish 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  279 

more,  but  each  unit  of  work  contributes  more 
to  our  development.  Under  the  stress  of  vol- 
untary and  spontaneous  attention,  under  the 
stimulus  of  personal  efficiency-ideals,  and  under 
such  social  demands  as  competition  and  imita- 
tion we  develop  new  methods  of  thought  and 
action  which  are  thereupon  adopted  as  the 
methods  for  future  action. 

3 .  The  value  of  an  experience  depends  upon 
what  has  been  called  the  "personal  attitude" 
sustained  during  the  experience.  Three  forms 
of  " personal  attitudes  "have  been  distinguished 
and  are  designated  as  follows  :  — 

(a)  The  submissive  or  suggestible  attitude. 

(b)  The  self-attentive  attitude. 

(c)  The  objective  or  the  problem  attitude. 

(a)  One  is  likely  to  be  thrown  into  the  sub- 
missive attitude  when  a  new  situation  arises 
(a  business  problem),  if  one  knows  that  he  is 
in  the  presence  of  others  who  could  solve  the 
problem  with  relative  ease  or  accuracy.  In 
such  a  situation  the  individual  is  hampered 
in  his  thinking  by  the  presence  of  those  who 
are  more  expert  than  he.  His  thinking  is 


280      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

therefore  futile  for  the  present  difficulty  and  is 
devoid  of  educative  value. 

(b)  The    self-attentive    attitude    is  similar 
to  the  submissive  attitude,  but  is  not  to  be 
confused  with  it.     If  when  confronted  with  a 
difficult  problem  my  attack  upon  it  is  weakened 
by  the  expectation  of  assistance  from  others,  I 
am  in  a  submissive  attitude.     If,  however,  my 
attack  is  weakened  by  my  realization  that  I 
am  on  trial,  —  that  what  I  do  with  the  problem 
will  be  observed  by  others,  —  then  I  become 
self-conscious  and  am  thrown  into  the  self- 
attentive  attitude.     If  I  am  conscious  that  I 
am  being  watched,  it  is  quite  difficult  for  me  to 
hit  a  golf  ball,  to  add  a  column  of  figures,  or 
to  deliver  a  lecture  on  psychology.     So  long 
as  I  am  self-attentive  my  efficiency  is  reduced ; 
I  hit  on  no  improved  methods  of  thought  or 
action,   and  my  experience  therefore  has  no 
permanent  value. 

(c)  So  soon  as  I  can  forget  others  and  myself 
and  can  take  the  objective,  or  the  problem 
attitude,   the  chances  of  efficient  action  are 
greatly  increased.     I  find  it  relatively  easy 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  281 

to  assume  this  attitude  when  I  feel  that  I 
stand  on  my  own  responsibility ;  that  the 
problem  cannot  possibly  be  referred  to  any 
higher  authority,  but  that  the  solution  depends 
upon  me  alone.  My  chances  of  solving  the 
problem  would  be  much  reduced,  if  it  were  pro- 
posed to  me  at  a  time  when  I  felt  domineered 
by  a  superior,  or  when  I  felt  that  he  knew  much 
more  about  it  and  could  settle  it  much  more 
easily  and  surely  than  I.  If  the  problem  de- 
manded previous  experience  and  the  possession 
of  knowledge  which  I  did  not  possess,  it  would 
be  likely  to  make  me  self-conscious  and  hence 
incapable  of  utilizing  even  the  experience  and 
the  knowledge  that  I  do  possess.  Past  suc- 
cess, the  possession  of  wide  experience,  and 
technical  instruction  keep  me  from  assuming 
the  self-attentive  attitude  and  enable  me  to 
take  the  problem  or  objective  attitude.  This 
is  the  only  attitude  consistent  with  improved 
form  of  thought  or  action,  and  hence  is  the 
attitude  essential  for  valuable  experience. 

4.  That  experience  is  the  most  valuable  that 
is  acquired  in  dealing  with  conditions  similar 


282      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

to  those  in  connection  with  which  improvement 
is  sought.  Experience  in  wood-chopping  makes 
one  a  better  chopper  but  does  not  necessarily 
increase  his  skill  in  sawing  wood.  Experi- 
ence in  bookkeeping  increases  one's  ability  in 
that  particular,  but  does  not  appreciably  in- 
crease his  ability  to  handle  men.  Speed  and 
accuracy  of  judgment  secured  in  inspecting  one 
sort  of  goods  cannot  be  depended  upon,  if  a 
different  sort  of  goods  is  to  be  inspected. 

The  experience  secured  in  responding  to  one 
situation  will  be  valuable  in  responding  to  a 
similar  situation  because  of  the  three  following 
facts :  — 

(a)  Two  similar  conditions  may  secure  iden- 
tical factors  in  our  activity.     Thus  school  life 
and  the  executive's  work  secure  such  identical 
activities  as  are  involved  in  reading,  in  writing, 
or  in  arithmetic,  and  so  forth,  whether  accom- 
plished in  the  schoolroom  or  the  office. 

(b)  The  method  developed  in  one  experience 
may  be  applied  equally  well  to  another  activ- 
ity.    In  connection  with  a  course  in  college,  a 
student  may  acquire  a  scientific  method  of 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  283 

procedure.  At  a  later  time  he  may  (or  he  may 
not)  apply  this  same  method  to  the  problems 
arising  in  his  business  or  industrial  life. 

(c)  Ideals  developed  in  one  experience  may 
be  projected  into  other  experiences.  If  the 
ideals  of  promptness,  neatness,  accuracy,  and 
honesty  are  developed  in  one  relationship  of 
life,  the  probabilities  are  somewhat  increased 
that  the  same  ideals  will  be  applied  to  all 
experiences. 

Provided  that  the  four  general  conditions 
discussed  are  secured,  we  then  have  the  more 
specific  and  important  question  to  ask  :  — 

WHAT  EXPERIENCES  ARE  THE  MOST  VALUABLE  ? 

Only  those  experiences  are  valuable  that  in 
an  appreciable  degree  modify  future  action. 
One  way  in  which  an  experience  or  a  series  of 
experiences  modifies  future  action  is  in  the 
formation  of  habits. 

Habit  Formation 

Habit  has  a  beneficial  influence  on  future 
action  in  five  particulars  :  — 


284      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

(a)  Habit   reduces   the   necessary  time  of 
action.     Repeating  the  twenty-six  letters  of 
the  alphabet  has  become  so  habitual  that  I  can 
repeat  them  forward  in  two  seconds.     To  re- 
peat them  in  any  other  than  an  habitual  order, 
e.g.  backwards,  requires  sixty  seconds. 

(b)  Habit  increases  accuracy.     I  can  repeat 
the  alphabet  forward  without  danger  of  error, 
but  when  I  try  to  repeat  it  backward  I  am 
extremely  likely  to  go  astray. 

(c)  Habit  reduces  the  attendant  exhaustion. 
Reading  English  is  for  me  more  habitual  than 
reading  French.     Hence  the  latter  is  the  more 
exhausting  process. 

(d)  Habit  relieves  the  mind  from  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  attention  to  the  details  of  the 
successive    steps    of    the    act.     When    piano 
playing  has  been  completely  reduced  to  habit, 
the  finger  movement,  the  reading  of  the  notes, 
etc.,  are  all  carried  on  successively  with  the 
minimum  of  thought. 

(e)  Habit  gives  a  permanency  to  experience. 
For  many  years  in  playing  tennis  I  served  the 
ball  in  a  way  that  had  become  for  me  perfectly 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  285 

habitual.  For  an  interval  of  three  years  I 
played  no  tennis,  but  when  I  began  again  I 
found  that  I  could  serve  as  well  as  ever.  If 
the  manner  of  service  had  not  been  so  per- 
fectly reduced  to  habit,  I  would  have  found 
after  an  interval  of  three  years  that  I  was  com- 
pletely out  of  practice,  i.e.  that  my  previous 
experience  did  not  have  a  permanent  value. 

(The  subject  of  habit  formation  will  be  more 
completely  presented  in  Chapter  XIII.) 

A  second  form  of  experience  that  is  capital- 
ized and  so  predetermines  a  man's  capacity  to 
act  and  to  think  is  the  formation  of  what  is 
known  as  practical  judgments. 

Practical  Judgments 

By  a  practical  judgment  is  meant  the  con- 
scious recall  of  a  concrete  past  experience  and 
the  determination  of  some  action  by  means  of 
this  consciously  recalled  event.  I  find  that  it 
will  be  necessary  for  me  to  secure  a  new  stenog- 
rapher. I  solve  the  problem  by  consciously 
recalling  how  I  got  one  before.  Upon  the 
basis  of  that  consciously  recalled  previous 


286      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

experience  I  decide  how  to  act  now.  This  is  a 
practical  judgment. 

In  strictness  what  is  capitalized  is  not  the 
practical  judgment  itself  but  the  original 
concrete  experience  that  is  recalled  at  a  later 
time,  and  upon  the  basis  of  which  a  practical 
judgment  is  formed. 

Practical  judgments  cannot  be  more  com- 
prehensive than  one's  previous  experience. 
The  necessary  condition  for  fertility  in  the 
formations  of  practical  judgments  is  therefore 
richness  of  previous  experience.  Indeed  one's 
practical  judgments  are  much  more  restricted 
than  one's  actual  experiences.  Apractical  judg- 
ment is  dependent  not  merely  upon  having  had 
the  necessary  experience,  but  upon  the  recall 
of  it  at  the  appropriate  occasion.  The  key  to  a 
side  door  of  my  house  was  temporarily  lost. 
After  trying  scores  of  keys,  I  found  that  a  key 
to  a  room  in  the  attic  would  also  open  the  side 
door.  This  side-door  key  was  again  carried 
off  last  week.  After  much  vexation  and  after 
trying  numerous  keys,  I  again  discovered  that 
the  key  to  the  room  in  the  attic  would  open  the 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  287 

side  door.  I  failed  to  make  the  necessary 
practical  judgment.  If  when  the  key  was  lost 
the  second  time  I  had  recalled  my  former  expe- 
rience and  had  taken  advantage  of  it,  I  would 
have  formed  a  practical  judgment  and  would 
have  saved  myself  much  inconvenience. 

The  formation  of  practical  judgments  is  not 
a  high  form  of  thought.  Indeed  it  is  held  by 
many  that  the  animals  are  capable  of  some 
form  of  practical  judgment.  A  much  more 
effective  form  of  thought  is  the  formation  of 
reflective  judgments. 

Reflective  Judgments 

A  practical  judgment  is  based  on  a  single 
concrete  case.  A  reflective  judgment  is  based 
on  a  generalization,  an  abstraction,  or  a  prin- 
ciple derived  from  many  previous  experiences. 

Last  night  a  salesman  tried  to  induce  me  to 
purchase  an  interest  in  an  Idaho  apple  orchard. 
Thereupon  I  recalled  an  instance  of  a  friend 
who  a  year  ago  had  made  such  a  purchase  and 
had  found  it  a  profitable  investment.  If  on 
the  basis  of  this  or  some  other  concrete  case  I 


288      Increasing   Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

had  accepted  or  rejected  his  offer,  I  would  have 
made  a  practical  judgment.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  I  caused  several  concrete  instances  to 
pass  through  my  mind,  made  the  generalization 
that  most  professional  men  lose  when  they  invest 
in  distant  properties,  and  upon  the  basis  of  this 
generalization  made  my  reflective  judgment 
and  rejected  his  proposition. 

Last  week  on  the  golf  links  I  saw  a  Bohemian 
peasant  woman  wearing  clothes  full  of  small 
holes.  I  tried  to  figure  out  how  the  clothing 
had  become  so  injured.  I  recalled  seeing  a 
coat  that  had  been  left  all  summer  in  an  attic 
till  it  had  been  eaten  to  pieces  by  the  moths. 
On  the  basis  of  that  recalled  incident  I  satis- 
fied myself  by  means  of  the  practical  judgment 
that  she  was  wearing  moth-eaten  clothing.  A 
few  days  later  I  saw  three  of  these  women 
working  on  one  of  the  greens,  and  each  of 
them  had  on  clothing  full  of  small  holes.  I 
began  to  reflect  as  to  the  cause  of  the  holes.  I 
observed  that  each  woman  held  a  bottle  in 
her  hand  and  was  apparently  applying  the  con- 
tents of  the  bottle  to  the  roots  of  the  dandelion 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  289 

plants.  I  inferred  that  the  liquid  must  be 
an  acid.  Then  of  all  the  qualities  of  an  acid  I 
considered  merely  its  corrosiveness.  With 
that  abstraction  in  mind  I  made  the  reflective 
judgment  that  the  women  were  working  with 
an  acid  and  that  from  time  to  time  particles 
of  the  acid  got  on  their  clothes  and  corroded 
them. 

A  manager  of  a  large  manufacturing  and 
selling  organization  made  a  study  of  the  con- 
ditions affecting  the  prosperity  of  his  organiza- 
tion. From  his  observations  he  deduced  the 
principle  that  for  him  it  is  more  important  to 
increase  the  loyalty  of  the  men  to  the  organiza- 
tion than  to  reduce  the  apparent  labor  cost. 
With  this  principle  in  mind  he  made  various 
reflective  judgments  in  upbuilding  his  organi- 
zation. 

In  these  illustrations  of  theoretical  or  reflec- 
tive judgments  it  will  be  observed  that  no 
previous  single  experience  was  in  the  mind  of 
the  one  forming  the  judgment  but  merely  a 
generalization,  an  abstraction,  or  principle. 

The  experience  that  is  really  capitalized  is 


290      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

the  formation  of  the  generalizations,  abstrac- 
tions, and  principles  which  are  thereafter  avail- 
able for  reflective  judgments  and  can  be  applied 
to  a  multitude  of  novel  situations  but  situa- 
tions in  which  the  generalization,  abstraction, 
or  principle  is  a  factor. 

The  significance  of  reflective  judgments  in 
increasing  human  efficiency  was  manifested 
in  a  striking  manner  by  the  following  experi- 
ment. A  group  of  individuals  were  tested 
as  to  their  ability  to  solve  a  number  of  me- 
chanical puzzles.  The  time  required  for  each 
individual  was  recorded.  The  subjects  then  de- 
scribed as  completely  as  possible  how  they  had 
solved  the  problem  (worked  the  puzzle).  In 
some  instances  the  subjects  kept  trying  blindly, 
till  by  accident  they  hit  upon  the  right  method. 
In  such  cases  the  second  and  third  trials  might 
take  as  long  or  even  longer  than  the  first  trial. 
If,  however,  the  subject  had  in  mind  the  right 
principle  or  principles  for  solving  the  problems, 
the  time  required  for  succeeding  attempts  fell 
abruptly.  Curve  A  of  Figure  6  is  a  graphic 
representation  of  the  results  of  A  with  one  of 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  291 

the  puzzles.  To  solve  the  problem  the  first 
time  required  1476  seconds.  While  solving 
it  this  first  time  A  discovered  a  principle  upon 
which  success  depended.  The  second  attempt 
consumed  241  seconds.  While  solving  the 
problem  this  second  time  he  discovered  a  sec- 
ond principle.  With  these  two  principles  in 
mind  succeeding  attempts  were  rendered  rapid 
and  certain. 

Another  young  man,  B,  in  solving  his  prob- 
lem (Chinese  Rings  Puzzle)  succeeded  after 
working  1678  seconds.  At  the  completion  of 
this  successful  attempt  he  had  in  mind  no  prin- 
ciple for  working  it.  The  second  trial  was  not 
so  successful  as  the  first  and  lasted  2670 
seconds.  With  succeeding  trials  he  reduced 
his  time  but  not  regularly  and  was  still  work- 
ing "in  the  dark."  His  method  was  one  of 
extreme  simplicity  and  probably  not  different 
from  the  "try,  try  again"  method  employed 
by  animals  in  learning.  The  results  of  his 
first  ten  trials  are  graphically  shown  in  Curve 
B  of  Figure  6. 

A  comparison  of   Figure  6  with  the  five 


292      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 


\ 


B 


\ 


O  /          2.          34-          5          6  7          &          9 

FIG.  6. 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  293 

figures  of  Chapter  X  will  show  how  rapidly  in- 
crease of  efficiency  is  when  dependent  upon 
judgments  as  contrasted  with  improvement 
dependent  upon  habit. 

A  judgment  once  having  been  made  may  be 
utilized  again  and  again.  The  process  of 
applying  these  preformed  judgments  is  known 
as  an  intuitive  or  perhaps  better  called  an  ex- 
pert judgment. 

Expert  Judgments 

Just  as  appropriate  concrete  experiences  de- 
termine the  nature  and  the  range  of  practical 
judgments,  and  as  the  formation  of  generaliza- 
tions, abstractions,  and  principles  determine 
the  possibilities  of  reflective  judgments,  so  the 
actual  formation  of  the  practical  and  reflective 
judgments  determine  the  nature  and  the  range 
of  the  intuitive  or  expert  judgments. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  a  need  for  an  attor- 
ney to  perform  for  me  a  petty  service.  Just 
at  that  critical  moment  I  met  a  friend  who  was 
a  lawyer.  I  employed  him  forthwith.  At  a 
later  time  I  needed  a  lawyer  again,  recalled  my 


294      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

former  experience,  and  called  up  the  same 
experience.  This  employing  him  the  second 
time  was  clearly  a  practical  judgment.  If  I 
have  frequent  need  for  an  attorney,  I  shall 
probably  make  use  of  my  preformed  practical 
judgment  and  employ  this  same  attorney. 
This  act  will  never  become  a  habit,  but  it  will 
approximate  more  and  more  a  habitual  action, 
and  will  seem  to  be  performed  intuitively,  and 
will  be  an  illustration  of  an  expert  judgment. 

This  morning  I  was  asked  to  find  a  cook  and 
man  of  general  utility  for  an  outing  camp.  I 
had  no  preformed  practical  judgment  which  I 
could  apply  to  the  case  and  did  not  even  pos- 
sess a  remembrance  of  any  experience  upon 
which  I  might  base  a  practical  experience.  In 
such  a  case  therefore  I  am  not  only  not  an 
expert  but  I  do  not  possess  the  necessary  pre- 
liminary experiences  for  developing  such  abil- 
ity. 

During  the  last  decade  I  have  given  much 
thought  to  this  question :  Does  the  efficiency 
of  one's  thinking  depend  at  all  upon  the  clear- 
ness and  distinctness  of  the  mental  image  used 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  295 

in  the  thinking  ?  I  settled  the  question  in  the 
negative.  The  formation  of  this  principle 
(clear  thinking  does  not  depend  upon  clear 
visual  image)  was  an  act  of  reflective  judgment. 
But  now  the  application  of  this  preformed 
judgment  has  developed  into  an  expert  judg- 
ment. Recently  I  was  given  the  manuscript 
of  a  course  in  psychology  and  asked  to  appraise 
it.  One  of  the  chief  points  of  the  author  was 
to  advise  all  business  men  to  develop  clear 
visual  images.  In  fact  he  asserted  that  clear- 
ness of  thinking  was  in  proportion  to  clearness 
of  the  visual  image  with  which  the  thinking  is 
carried  on.  Without  again  weighing  the  evi- 
dence for  my  principle,  I  applied  my  preformed 
judgment  and  by  means  of  this  expert  judg- 
ment condemned  the  course. 

A  man  is  expert  only  in  those  fields  in  which 
he  has  developed  the  appropriate  habits,  the 
necessary,  practical,  and  reflective  judgments, 
and  has  had  some  practice  in  applying  these 
judgments. 

We  find  that  four  classes  of  experiences  are 
valuable,  i.e.  such  experiences  as  result  in  the 


ig6      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

formation  of  habits  ;  such  as  result  in  practical 
judgments,  in  reflective  judgments,  and  in 
expert  judgments.  Our  final  task  is  to  con- 
sider methods  for  increasing  the  probabilities 
that  such  experiences  may  be  secured  and 
utilized. 

SECURING  AND    UTILIZING    THESE    MOST   VALU- 
ABLE EXPERIENCES 

The  conditions  best  adapted  for  procuring 
and  utilizing  one  class  of  these  most  valuable 
experiences  may  not  be  the  best  for  the  other 
three  classes.  Our  final  problem  must  there- 
fore be  subdivided  into  four  parts  correspond- 
ing to  the  four  classes  of  valuable  experience. 

Special  Conditions  Favorable  to  Habit  Forma- 
tion 

The  essential  condition  for  habit  formation 
is  repetition  with  intensity  of  application. 
The  modern  movement  in  the  industrial  world 
known  as  scientific  management  supplies  this 
need  for  repetition  by  standardizing  all  ac- 
tivities so  that  they  will  be  repeated  over  and 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  297 

over  in  identical  form ;  and  it  secures  the  in- 
tensity of  application  by  means  of  the  task  and 
bonus  system.  By  these  means  the  most 
valuable  experiences  for  habit  formation  are 
secured  and  utilized. 

The  working  out  of  this  fact  is  so  admirably 
described  in  recent  reports  upon  scientific 
management  that  further  description  here 
would  be  superfluous. 

Special  Conditions  Favorable  to  the  Formation 
of  Practical  Judgments 

In  addition  to  the  four  general  conditions 
discussed  on  pages  278  to  283  the  special 
conditions  most  favorable  to  the  formation  of 
practical  judgments  are  the  three  following :  — 

I.  The  experiences  most  effective  in  arous- 
ing practical  judgments  are  those  that  are  most 
recent.  A  few  days  ago  I  purchased  a  piece 
of  real  estate  and  was  asked  how  I  wanted  the 
property  transferred.  I  replied  immediately 
that  I  wanted  a  warranty  deed  and  a  guarantee 
policy.  This  was  a  practical  judgment  made 
upon  the  basis  of  a  recent  previous  experience. 


298      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

As  a  matter  of  fact  there  are  three  distinct 
methods  of  transferring  real  estate,  but  until 
after  my  judgment  had  been  made  I  was  per- 
fectly oblivious  of  the  other  methods,  although 
I  had  had  experience  with  them  some  years 
before.  Thus  I  utilized  only  my  recent  expe- 
rience in  making  my  practical  judgment. 

2.  Other  things  being  equal,  those  experi- 
ences are  most  valuable  in  arousing  practical 
judgments  that  have  been  the  most  frequent. 
I  have  seen  burns  dressed  many  times  and  in 
many  ways,  but  most  often  they  have  been 
dressed  with  soda  and  water.     When  I  was 
called  upon  recently  to  dress  a  burn  I  recalled 
the  method  which  I  had  seen  most  often  and 
formed  a  practical  judgment  based  thereupon 
and  was  helped  out  of  my  difficulty. 

3.  Our  most  vivid  and  intense  experiences 
are  the  ones  most  likely  to  be  recalled  and  to 
be  utilized  in  the  formation  of  practical  judg- 
ments.    The  mistakes  that  I  have  to  pay  for 
and  the  deed  that  secured  my  promotion  are 
the  experiences  most  fertile  in  the  formation  of 
practical  judgments. 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  299 

Special  Conditions  Favorable  to  the  Formation 
of  Reflective  Judgments 

In  addition  to  the  general  conditions  men- 
tioned on  page  278  the  special  conditions  favor- 
able for  the  formation  of  reflective  judgments 
are  as  follows  :  — 

1.  A    theoretical    education.     Proverbially 
schools  teach  generalizations,  abstractions,  and 
principles.     The  scholar  and  the  student  are 
compelled  to  practice  in  this  most  effective  form 
of   thinking.     A   justifiable    criticism   of   the 
schools  is  that  they  are  inclined  to  neglect  the 
lower  forms  of  thinking — the  dealing  with  the 
concrete  —  in  their  zeal  for  the  highest  forms  of 
thinking.     However,  a  school  education   not 
only  gives  practice  in  handling  generalizations, 
abstractions,   and  principles,  but  it  provides 
the  conditions  necessary  to  stimulate  the  learn- 
ers to  amass  a  useful  stock  of  concepts  that  at 
a  later  time  will  be  used  in  reflective  judgments. 

2.  Suggestions     from     others.       Reflective 
judgments  depend  upon  condensed  experience. 
The  condensation  is  not  produced  by  compres- 


300       Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

sion  but  by  selecting  the  common  though  essen- 
tial element  from  various  former  experiences 
and  by  uniting  these  elements  into  a  new  unity. 
This  breaking  up  of  former  experiences  by 
analyzing  out  the  essential  factor  is  a  difficult 
task  and  one  in  which  no  man  can  proceed  far 
without  assistance  from  others. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  psychologists  a 
speaker  presented  a  paper  on  the  most  helpful 
order  of  presentation  of  topics  for  a  course  in 
psychology.  He  simply  called  our  attention  to 
certain  facts  which  we  had  all  experienced  as 
teachers  of  psychology.  He  then  combined 
these  abstracted  elements  in  a  new  unity  in 
such  a  way  that  I  was  enabled  to  form  a  reflec- 
tive judgment  as  to  the  order  of  presenting 
topics  in  psychology.  Without  his  suggestion 
I  probably  never  would  have  been  able  to  make 
the  analysis  necessary  for  the  reflective  judg- 
ment. 

We  need  all  the  help  we  can  get  to  assist  us 
to  analyze  our  own  experiences.  To  this  end 
we  employ  with  great  profit  such  agencies  as 
conferences  with  fellow-workmen,  conventions, 


Making  Experience  an  Asset  301 

visitations,  trade  journals,  and  technical  dis- 
cussions upon  our  own  problem  (cf.  Chapter 
XI). 

3.  Verbal  expression.  We  cannot  well  unite 
factors  of  previous  experience  into  a  new  whole 
unless  we  have  some  symbol  to  stand  for  the 
new  unity.  As  such  a  symbol,  a  word  is  the 
most  effective.  Animals  never  carry  on  re- 
flective judgments  and  never  can,  since  they  do 
not  possess  a  language  adequate  to  such  de- 
mands. The  attempt  to  express  one's  thought 
in  words  is  in  reality  often  a  means  for  creating 
the  thought  as  well  as  a  means  for  its  expres- 
sion. A  few  years  ago  I  prepared  a  paper  on 
the  subject,  "Making  Psychology  Practical." 
In  my  attempt  to  express  myself  I  clarified 
my  thinking,  formed  new  generalizations,  and 
therefore  was  enabled  to  do  with  full  conscious- 
ness (with  reflective  judgments)  what  pre- 
viously I  had  done  but  blindly. 

It  is  a  most  helpful  practice  to  attempt  to 
express  in  words  just  what  one  is  trying  to 
accomplish ;  what  are  the  conditions  necessary 
for  success  ;  ;what  the  conditions  that  are  lower- 


302      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

ing  efficiency ;  and  what  are  the  possibilities  of 
the  work,  etc.  The  method  of  analysis  and 
expression  assists  wonderfully  in  abstracting 
the  aspects  of  one's  experience  necessary  for 
the  generalization,  abstraction,  and  principle 
used  in  reflective  judgments. 

Special  Conditions  Favorable  to  the  Formation 
of  Expert  Judgments 

There  are  no  clearly  defined  special  conditions 
for  increasing  one's  capacity  to  apply  expert 
judgments.  The  general  conditions  discussed 
on  page  278  seem  to  cover  the  case.  If  I  have 
provided,  as  an  executive,  for  all  these  condi- 
tions for  developing  expert  judgments  :  — 

(1)  if  I  have  good  vigorous  health, 

(2)  if  I  am  working  with  enthusiastic  appli- 
cation, 

(3)  if  I  have  the  right  attitude  towards  my 
work, 

(4)  and  finally,    if  I  am  having  frequent 
experience  in  making  practical  and  theoretical 
judgments,  —  I  am  then  fulfilling  the  conditions 
most  favorable  for  the  development  of  expert 
judgments. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CAPITALIZING  EXPERIENCE  —  HABIT  FORMA- 
TION 

AFTER  spending  four  years  in  an  Eastern 
college,  a  young  graduate  was  put  in 
charge  of  a  group  of  day  laborers.     He 
assumed  toward  them  the  attitude  of  the  ath- 
letic director  and  the  coach  combined.     He  set 
out  to  develop  a  winning  team,  one  that  could 
handle  more  cubic  yards  of  dirt  in  a  day  than 
any  other  group  on  the  job. 

He  had  no  guidebook  and  no  official  records 
to  direct  him.  He  did  not  know  what  the 
best  "form"  was  for  shoveling  dirt,  and  he 
did  not  know  how  much  a  good  man  could 
accomplish  in  an  hour.  With  stop  watch 
and  notebook  in  hand,  he  began  to  observe 
the  movements  of  the  man  who  seemed  the 
best  worker  in  the  group.  He  counted  the 
different  movements  made  in  handling  a 

3°3 


304     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

shovelful  of  dirt,  and  the  exact  time  required 
for  each  of  the  movements.  He  then  made  simi- 
lar observations  upon  other  men.  He  found 
that  the  best  man  was  making  fewer  move- 
ments and  faster  movements  than  his  com- 
panions. But  he  also  discovered  that  even 
this  best  workman  was  making  movements 
which  were  not  necessary,  and  that  he  was 
making  some  movements  too  slowly  and  thus 
losing  the  advantage  of  the  momentum  which  a 
higher  speed  would  have  produced,  and  which 
would  have  enabled  him  to  accomplish  the  task 
with  less  effort. 

The  young  collegian  then  set  about  to  stan- 
dardize the  necessary  movements  and  the  most 
economical  speed  for  each  movement  required 
in  the  work  of  his  group.  He  instructed  his 
best  man  in  the  improved  method  of  working, 
and  offered  him  a  handsome  bonus  if  he  would 
follow  the  specifications  and  accomplish  the 
task  in  the  estimated  time.  The  man,  eager 
to  earn  the  increase,  followed  the  directions 
closely,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  enabled  to 
accomplish  more  than  twice  the  work  of  the 


Capitalizing  Experience  305 

average  workman.  The  improved  habit  of 
working  was  then  taught  the  other  workmen, 
and  the  result  was  a  winning  team. 

The  success  of  the  young  collegian  did  not 
get  into  the  colored  supplements  of  the  daily 
press,  but  it  was  heralded  by  mechanical  en- 
gineers as  marking  an  epoch  in  the  industrial 
advance  of  humanity.  It  made  manifest 
the  necessity  of  a  study  of  habits,  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  useless  ones,  and  the  acquisition 
of  those  most  beneficial. 

The  study  of  habit  has  not  received  from  the 
practical  business  man  the  attention  which  it 
deserves  because  he  has  too  often  looked  upon 
habit  as  something  detrimental  to  efficiency. 
The  possession  of  any  and  of  all  habits  has  at 
times  been  regarded  as  a  misfortune. 

An  employer  of  men  for  responsible  positions 
recently  made  this  inquiry  concerning  each 
applicant  for  a  position,  "Does  he  have  any 
habits?  If  so,  what  are  they?"  This  em- 
ployer confused  all  habits  with  such  things 
as  habits  of  intemperance,  habits  of  slovenli- 
ness, habits  of  dishonesty,  and  habits  of  loafing. 


306      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

Little  did  he  suspect  that  the  habits  of  the  men 
were  in  reality  their  strongest  recommendation. 
He  did  not  realize  that  the  capitalized  experi- 
ence of  these  men  was  funded  in  the  masses  of 
useful  habits  which  they  had  acquired. 

Habits  are  but  ways  of  thinking  and  of  act- 
ing which  by  reason  of  frequent  repetition 
have  become  more  or  less  automatic.  We  are 
all  creatures  of  habit ;  we  all  possess  both  good 
and  bad  habits. 

In  performing  an  habitual  act  we  do  not  pay 
attention  to  the  individual  separate  steps  in- 
cluded in  the  act.  So  we  are  liable  to  think  of 
our  habitual  acts  as  those  done  carelessly,  and 
of  other  acts  as  those  performed  with  caution 
and  consideration.  The  folly  of  such  a  criti- 
cism of  habit  is  made  apparent  by  the  study  of 
any  act  which  may  be  performed  by  one  person 
as  a  habit  and  by  another  person  as  an  act 
every  step  of  which  demands  attention.  A 
barber  stropping  his  razor  is  a  familiar  illus- 
tration of  the  working  of  habit.  An  adult 
attempting  to  strop  a  razor  for  the  first  time 
and  compelled  to  give  attention  to  each  step 


Capitalizing  Experience  307 

in  the  process  is  a  typical  illustration  of  an  act 
demanding  attention  in  contrast  with  an 
habitual  act  which  needs  no  such  attention. 

We  are  also  inclined  to  deprecate  habits  on 
the  ground  that  the  man  in  the  grip  of  habit 
is  hopelessly  in  the  rut,  that  the  man  who  has 
reduced  his  work  to  habit  ceases  to  be  original 
and  is  incapable  of  further  improvement. 
On  the  contrary,  the  grip  of  habit  is  but  a 
support.  The  editor  could  not  write  his 
trenchant  editorials,  and  the  advertiser  could 
not  write  his  compelling  copy,  unless  in  the  act 
of  writing  each  could  turn  over  to  habit  the 
manipulation  of  the  pen,  the  formation  of  the 
letters,  and  the  spelling  of  the  words.  The 
attorney  cannot  make  his  most  logical  argu- 
ments and  the  salesman  cannot  make  the  best 
presentation  of  his  goods,  unless  they  can  de- 
pend upon  habit  for  correct  verbal  expres- 
sions, unless  their  thoughts  clothe  themselves 
automatically  in  appropriate  verbal  forms. 
When  we  are  in  the  grip  of  habit,  if  it  be  a  good 
habit,  we  are  not  so  much  in  a  rut  as  on  the 
steel  rails  where  alone  the  greatest  progress  is 


308      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

made  possible.  We  are  not  enslaved  by  good 
habits,  but  rather  might  it  be  said  that  no 
man  is  truly  free  to  advance  and  to  make 
rapid  progress  till  he  has  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing a  mass  of  useful  habits. 

HOW  HABITS  ARE  FORMED 

Modern  physiological  psychology  has  dealt 
with  the  problem  of  explaining  the  possibility 
of  the  formation  and  maintenance  of  habits. 
The  explanation  is  found  in  the  mutual  de- 
velopment of  the  mind  and  the  nervous  sys- 
tem and  in  the  dependence  of  thought  and 
action  upon  the  nervous  system,  and  particu- 
larly upon  the  brain.  To  understand  habit 
we  must  look  beyond  thought  and  action  and 
consider  some  of  the  fundamental  charac- 
teristic features  of  the  nervous  system.  One 
such  characteristic  is  the  plasticity  of  the  ner- 
vous substance.  If  I  bend  a  piece  of  paper  and 
crease  it,  the  crease  will  remain  even  after  the 
paper  is  straightened  out  again.  The  paper  is 
plastic,  and  plasticity  means  simply  that  the 
substance  oifers  some  resistance  to  adopting  a 


Capitalizing  Experience  309 

new  form,  but  that  when  the  new  form  is  once 
impressed  upon  the  substance  it  is  retained. 
Some  effort  is  required  to  overcome  the  plas- 
ticity of  the  paper  and  to  form  the  crease,  but 
when  it  is  once  formed  the  plasticity  of  the 
paper  preserves  the  crease. 

Modern  conceptions  of  psychology  have 
emphasized  the  intimate  relationship  existing 
between  our  thoughts  and  our  brains.  Every 
time  we  think,  a  slight  change  takes  place  in 
the  delicate  nerve-cells  in  some  part  of  the 
brain.  Every  action  among  these  cells  leaves 
its  indelible  mark,  or  crease.  Just  as  it  is 
easy  for  the  paper  to  bend  where  it  has  been 
creased  before,  it  is  likewise  easy  for  action  to 
take  place  in  the  brain  where  it  has  taken  place 
before. 

The  brain  may  also  be  likened  to  the  cylinder 
or  disk  used  in  a  dictating  machine  and  in 
phonographs,  and  a  thought  likened  to  the 
needle  making  the  original  record.  It  takes 
some  energy  to  force  the  needle  through  the 
substance  of  the  cylinder,  but  thereafter  it 
moves  along  the  opened  groove  with  a  mini- 


3io      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

mum  of  resistance.  In  a  similar  way  it  is 
easy  to  think  the  old  thought  or  to  perform 
the  old  act,  but  it  is  most  difficult  to  be  origi- 
nal in  thinking  and  in  acting.  When  an  idea 
has  been  thought  or  an  act  performed  many 
times,  the  crease  or  groove  becomes  so  well 
established  that  thinking  or  acting  along  that 
crease  or  groove  is  easier  than  other  thoughts 
or  actions,  and  so  this  easier  one  may  be  said 
to  have  become  habitual.  In  a  very  real  sense 
the  thoughts  and  actions  form  the  brain  by 
means  of  the  delicate  physical  changes  which 
they  produce;  and  then,  when  the  brain  is 
formed,  its  plasticity  is  so  great  that  it  deter- 
mines our  future  thinking  and  acting. 

HABIT  SHORTENS  THE  TIME  NECESSARY  FOR  A 
THOUGHT  OR  AN  ACT 

Human  efficiency  depends  in  part  upon  the 
rapidity  with  which  we  are  able  to  accomplish 
our  tasks.  It  is  surprising  to  us  all  when  we 
find  how  rapidly  we  can  accomplish  our  habitual 
acts  and  how  slowly  we  perform  the  tasks  to 
which  we  are  compelled  to  give  specific  atten- 


Capitalizing  Experience  3  1 1 

tion.  I  find  that  I  can  repeat  the  twenty-six 
letters  of  the  alphabet  in  two  seconds.  I  do 
not  give  attention  to  the  order  of  the  letters, 
but  all  I  seem  to  do  is  to  start  the  process,  and 
then  it  says  itself.  If,  however,  I  attempt  to 
pronounce  the  alphabet  backward,  my  first 
attempt  takes  a  full  minute.  If  I  attempt  to  say 
the  alphabet  forward  but  to  insert  after  each 
letter  a  single  syllable,  such  as  "two,"  it  takes 
sixteen  seconds.  Thus,  a  2,  b  2,  c  2,  d  2,  etc., 
requires  eight  times  as  many  seconds  as  the 
simple  alphabet,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  etc.  The 
sequence  which  has  become  most  perfectly 
habitual  requires  but  two  seconds ;  the  pro- 
cess which  employs  the  old  habit  in  part  re- 
quires sixteen  seconds ;  but  the  act  which 
has  never  been  reduced  to  a  habit  at  all  (re- 
peating the  alphabet  backward)  requires  at 
least  sixty  seconds. 

Some  time  ago  I  could  pick  out  the  letters 
on  a  typewriter  at  the  rate  of  about  one  per 
second.  Writing  is  now  becoming  reduced 
to  a  habit,  and  I  can  write  perhaps  three 
letters  a  second.  When  the  act  has  been 


Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

reduced  to  the  pure  habit  form,  I  shall  be 
writing  at  the  rate  of  not  less  than  five  letters 
per  second. 

I  can  send  a  telegraph  message  at  a  rate  but 
little  faster  than  one  contact  per  second. 
Those  who  have  reduced  the  transmission  of 
messages  to  a  habit  are  capable  of  making 
twelve  contacts  per  second. 

In  multiplying  one  three-place  number  by 
another  I  have  the  fixed  habit  of  writing  the 
multiplier  under  the  multiplicand,  the  partial 
products  under  these,  and  the  final  product 
beneath  all.  If  I  reverse  all  these  positions, 
the  multiplying  should  be  no  more  difficult, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  this  simple  reversal 
increases  the  time  of  operation  about  eighty-five 
per  cent.  All  mathematical  operations  are 
rapid  in  proportion  to  the  degree  to  which  they 
are  habitual. 

The  speed  of  thought  is  slow  unless  it  fol- 
lows the  old  creases  and  the  old  grooves.  No 
adequate  speed  is  possible  so  long  as  attention 
must  be  given  to  the  succeeding  stages  of  the 
thought  or  act.  This  is  true  of  all  acts  and 


Capitalizing  Experience  313 

of  all  thoughts,  whether  in  the  home  or  upon 
the  street,  in  the  shop  or  in  the  office. 

Great  speed  of  thought  and  action  must 
not  be  confused  with  hurried  thought  and 
action.  Speed  which  is  habitual  is  never 
hurried.  There  are  many  acts  of  skill  which 
can  be  done  much  more  easily  if  performed 
rapidly  than  if  performed  slowly.  When 
working  hurriedly,  there  is  a  speeding  up  of 
all  movements  whether  necessary  or  unneces- 
sary ;  but  the  speed  secured  from  correct  habits 
is  primarily  dependent  upon  the  elimination  of 
useless  movements  and  the  concentration  of 
energy  at  the  essential  point. 

HABIT    INCREASES    ACCURACY    OF    ACTING    AND 
THINKING 

Where  machinery  can  be  employed  we  find 
greatly  increased  accuracy  of  work.  The 
product  of  the  loom  and  the  lathe  are  more 
perfect,  more  uniform,  and  more  accurate  in  all 
details  than  similar  work  produced  by  hand. 
The  product  of  the  printing  press  thus  attains 
a  greater  degree  of  accuracy  in  details  than 


314      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

was  ever  attained  by  the  ancient  monk  in  the 
printing  of  his  scrolls. 

In  general,  our  work  becomes  accurate,  as 
well  as  swift,  in  the  degree  to  which  we  are 
able  to  mechanize  it  into  habits.  The  be- 
ginner in  piano  playing  or  typewriting  pays 
attention  to  the  striking  of  each  key.  When 
he  is  in  this  stage  of  development  he  is  liable 
at  any  time  to  strike  the  wrong  key  and  cer- 
tainly cannot  be  depended  upon  for  regular- 
ity of  touch.  As  soon  as  he  has  reduced  the 
striking  of  the  keys  to  a  habit,  he  ceases  to 
strike  the  wrong  keys  and  secures  uniformity  of 
touch. 

The  expert  marksman  has  reduced  to  a  habit 
the  necessary  steps  of  shooting  and  gives  no 
special  attention  to  the  position  of  the  fingers, 
the  tension  of  the  hands,  the  angle  of  the  head, 
the  closing  of  the  eye,  and  the  pulling  of  the 
trigger.  He  has  reduced  all  these  to  habit 
before  he  is  able  to  secure  his  expert  skill. 

The  reliable  bookkeeper  has  reduced  to 
habit  the  combining  of  all  the  ordinary  sums 
of  the  ledger.  The  man  of  accuracy  of  speech 


Capitalizing  Experience  315 

is  the  one  whose  thoughts  clothe  themselves 
in  the  verbal  expressions  by  habit  but  with 
no  conscious  selection  of  words.  The  man  of 
the  most  accurate  judgment  in  any  field  is  the 
one  who  has  succeeded  in  reducing  to  habit  most 
of  the  steps  of  the  judgments  in  that  field,  — 
the  one  who  has  the  largest  stock  of  intui- 
tive judgment. 

HABIT  RELIEVES  THE  ATTENTION  FROM  DETAILS 

Attention  cannot  be  directed  to  more 
than  one  thing  at  a  time.  It  is  doubtless 
true  that  the  "one  thing"  may  be  very  com- 
plex, e.g.  four  letters  or  even  four  words. 
So  long  as  the  performance  of  an  act  demands 
attention,  this  one  act  is  practically  all  that 
can  be  done  at  that  time.  As  soon  as  this 
thing  is  reduced  to  habit,  it  may  go  on  auto- 
matically, and  the  attention  may  be  turned 
to  other  things. 

When  I  begin  to  learn  to  play  the  piano, 
the  finger  movements  require  all  my  atten- 
tion so  that  I  cannot  read  the  notes  on  the 
scale  and  make  the  proper  execution  at  the 


316      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

same  time.  Gradually,  the  reading  of  notes 
and  the  execution  are  reduced  to  habit,  and 
I  can  then  turn  my  attention  to  the  reading 
of  the  words  of  the  air.  As  each  essential  detail 
is  reduced  to  habit,  I  acquire  the  ability  to 
read  the  score,  to  make  the  correct  finger  and 
foot  movements,  to  read  the  words  of  the 
song,  to  sing  it  correctly,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  be  thinking  more  or  less  of  other 
things. 

My  use  of  the  pen  has  become  so  reduced 
to  habit  that  I  need  pay  no  attention  to  the 
writing,  but  am  enabled  to  give  my  entire 
attention  to  the  thought  which  I  am  attempt- 
ing to  formulate.  So  every  useful  habit 
becomes  a  power  or  a  tool  which  may  be  used 
for  multiplying  the  efficiency  of  the  individual. 
Habit  formation  is  the  greatest  labor  saving 
device  in  the  human  economy.  No  one  has 
expressed  this  truth  so  forcefully  as  the  late 
Professor  William  James. 

"The  great  thing,  then,  in  all  education, 
is  to  make  our  nervous  system  our  ally  instead 
of  our  enemy.  It  is  to  fund  and  capitalize 


Capitalizing  Experience  317 

our  acquisitions,  and  live  at  ease  upon  the 
interest  of  the  fund.  For  this  we  must  make 
automatic  and  habitual,  as  early  as  possible, 
as  many  useful  actions  as  we  can,  and  guard 
against  the  growing  into  ways  that  are  likely 
to  be  disadvantageous  to  us  as  we  should 
guard  against  the  plague.  The  more  of  the 
details  of  our  daily  life  we  can  hand  over  to  the 
effortless  custody  of  automatism,  the  more  our 
higher  powers  of  mind  will  be  set  free  for  their 
own  proper  work.  There  is  no  more  miserable 
human  being  than  one  in  whom  nothing  is 
habitual  but  indecision,  and  for  whom  the 
lighting  of  every  cigar,  the  drinking  of  every 
cup,  the  time  of  rising  and  going  to  bed  every 
day,  and  the  beginning  of  every  bit  of  work, 
are  subjects  of  express  volitional  deliberation. 
Full  half  the  time  of  such  a  man  goes  to  the 
deciding  or  regretting  of  matters  which  ought 
to  be  so  ingrained  in  him  as  practically  not  to 
exist  for  his  consciousness  at  all.  If  there  be 
such  daily  duties  not  yet  ingrained  in  any  one 
of  my  readers,  let  him  begin  this  very  hour  to 
set  the  matter  right." 


318      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

HABIT   REDUCES    EXHAUSTION 

The  various  acts  connected  with  my  morn- 
ing toilet  have  been  reduced  to  sheerest  habit. 
I  do  not  think  of  the  different  acts  as  I  perform 
them  —  they  seem  to  perform  themselves. 
The  sequence  of  the  various  acts  and  the  man- 
ner of  performing  them  are  not  particularly 
good,  but  I  do  not  seem  inclined  to  change 
them.  I  put  on  my  left  shoe  before  my  right, 
my  right  sleeve  before  my  left.  I  have  the 
absurd  habit  of  washing  my  teeth  after  I 
have  washed  my  face.  That  my  habits  may 
execute  themselves  automatically,  all  the  ar- 
ticles of  my  toilet  must  be  in  their  proper 
places.  I  am  thwarted  in  carrying  out  my 
habits  unless  my  laundry  has  been  properly 
placed,  unless  towels,  brushes,  etc.,  are  all 
where  they  should  be.  If  everything  is  in  its 
place,  I  get  down  to  breakfast  refreshed  and 
recuperated.  If  the  toilet  articles  are  so  lo- 
cated that  I  am  compelled  to  do  consciously 
what  I  might  have  done  subconsciously,  I  get 
down  to  breakfast  irritated  and  nervously 


Capitalizing  Experience  319 

depleted.  The  peace  and  restfulness  of  an 
orderly  and  systematic  household  are  in  part 
dependent  upon  the  fact  that  it  is  only  in  such 
a  household  that  we  are  enabled  to  turn  over 
to  habit  the  accomplishment  of  untold  re- 
current acts. 

The  experienced  accountant  can  add  fig- 
ures continuously  for  eight  hours  a  day,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  day  may  feel  no  great 
exhaustion.  The  man  who  has  not  re- 
duced to  habit  the  necessary  steps  in  ad- 
dition cannot  add  continuously  for  two  hours 
without  a  degree  of  exhaustion  so  great  that 
it  paralyzes  effort.  The  same  is  true  with 
typewriting,  telegraphing,  and  with  all  forms 
of  manipulations  which  may  be  reduced  to 
habit. 

The  habit  of  reading  in  a  foreign  language 
is  rarely  so  well  established  as  the  habit  of 
interpreting  the  printed  symbols  of  the  mother 
tongue.  Even  when  I  seem  to  be  reading 
German  as  easily  as  English,  a  few  hours  spent 
in  reading  German  is  to  me  much  more  ex- 
hausting than  the  same  amount  of  time  spent 


320     Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

with  an  English  book.  Attending  lectures 
delivered  in  German  is  to  me  more  exhausting 
than  the  same  lectures  would  be  if  delivered 
in  English. 

Work  that  requires  much  constructive  think- 
ing cannot  be  continued  for  many  hours  a  day. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  such  thinking  does 
not  admit  of  complete  reduction  to  specific 
habits.  The  executive  who  accomplishes  much 
is  the  man  who  has  formed  many  useful  habits 
and  who  is  able  to  fall  back  on  them  for  a  large 
part  of  his  work.  His  decisions  are  reached 
in  a  habitual  manner.  Investigations  take  a 
regular,  automatic  course.  All  the  details 
of  the  office  are  reduced  to  mechanical  system. 
No  useless  energy  is  spent  in  giving  attention 
to  details  that  can  be  better  done  by  habit, 
and  the  mind  is  thus  freed  from  exhaustion 
and  left  fresh  for  attacking  the  problems 
arising  for  solution. 

The  performance  of  every  new  act  and  the 
thinking  of  every  new  idea  is  of  necessity  ex- 
hausting, and  they  become  easy  to  the  extent 
to  which  they  utilize  old  habits.  Although 


Capitalizing  Experience  321 

constructive  thinking  is  most  stimulating  and 
exciting,  no  man  can  continue  it  for  more  than 
a  few  hours  or  a  few  minutes  unless  it  depends 
mainly  upon  old  habits. 

Some  of  the  most  constructive  thinkers  of 
the  world  have  been  men  who  could  work  at 
their  original  work  for  but  a  few  minutes  at 
a  time.  One  brilliant  contemporary  writer 
accomplishes  most  when  he  works  not  more 
than  fifteen  minutes  at  a  time.  Charles 
Darwin  is  famous  for  the  originality  of  his 
thinking,  and  hence  we  are  not  surprised  when 
we  find  that  he  was  able  to  work  but  three 
hours  out  of  the  twenty-four. 

PERSONAL  HABITS 

Personal  habits  are  the  most  apparent  and 
those  by  which  we  most  often  judge  an  indi- 
vidual. Manner  of  dress  becomes  so  much  a 
matter  of  habit  that  the  wearing  apparel  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  habit,  and,  as 
Shakespeare  says,  it  oft  betrays  the  man. 
Cleanliness  and  neatness  of  appearance,  the 
tone  and  accent  of  voice,  the  manner  of  walk- 


322      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

ing  and  of  carrying  the  head,  and  the  use  of 
language  are  personal  habits  which  are  ac- 
quired early  in  life,  but  which  mean  much  in 
the  chances  of  success.  The  manner  of  eat- 
ing, of  sleeping,  and  of  caring  for  all  the  needs 
of  body  and  mind  are  for  most  persons  mainly 
a  matter  of  habit,  yet  they,  to  a  large  extent, 
determine  the  condition  of  health  and  the 
length  of  days. 

We  become  fond  of  doing  things  in  the 
manner  to  which  we  have  become  habituated. 
This  tendency  manifests  itself  to  an  abnormal 
degree  in  the  drinking  and  the  smoking  habit. 
In  a  lesser  degree  we  see  the  same  thing  in  the 
attachment  of  the  babe  for  his  pacifier  and  the 
child  for  his  chewing  gum.  Habit  creates  a 
craving  for  the  good  as  well  as  for  the  bad. 
The  ways  to  which  we  have  become  habituated 
seem  pleasing  to  us  whether  they  be  good  or 
bad.  There  is  truth  in  the  proverb,  "Train 
up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go  and  when 
he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  It  might 
be  added  that  the  child  will  not  want  to  depart 
from  the  way  to  which  he  has  been  trained,  for 


Capitalizing  Experience  323 

the  habits  thus  acquired  beget  a  fondness  for 
the  acts  themselves. 

It  is  very  unusual  for  any  one  to  acquire 
a  language  after  the  age  of  twenty  so  as  to 
speak  it  without  a  foreign  accent.  All  other 
personal  habits  are  like  the  use  of  language  in 
that  they  are  acquired  during  the  early  years 
and  are  not  easily  changed.  So  far  as  per- 
sonal habits  are  concerned,  but  little  change 
need  be  anticipated  after  the  twentieth  year. 

SOCIAL  HABITS 

Our  treatment  of  others  is  largely  a  matter 
of  habit.  We  are  affable  or  gruff  according 
to  habit.  Honesty  and  dishonesty  in  dealing 
with  others  is,  in  the  main,  a  matter  of  habit. 
The  honest  man  is  the  one  who  takes  honesty 
for  granted  and  acts  honestly  from  habit. 
So  soon  as  he  begins  to  observe  that  he  is  an 
honest  man,  to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  and 
to  be  much  impressed  by  the  honor  of  his 
choices — at  that  moment  suspicion  of  him 
should  be  entertained,  for  honesty  has  with 
him  ceased  to  be  a  habit. 


324      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

We  classify  individuals  largely  by  means 
of  their  personal  and  social  habits.  By  these 
the  gentleman  is  recognized  as  surely  as  the 
boor.  By  means  of  them  we  select  our  friends 
and  engage  new  employees.  Efficiency  in 
every  life  calling  depends  upon  our  success  in 
dealing  with  people.  Such  success  is  largely 
dependent  upon  the  social  habits  that  we 
acquire. 

OCCUPATION  HABITS 

Until  the  recent  rise  of  interest  in  psychol- 
ogy, relatively  little  attention  had  been  given 
to  the  study  of  those  habits  which  are  devel- 
oped in  business.  When  proper  care  is  not 
given  to  the  formation  of  these  habits  devel- 
oped in  connection  with  one's  daily  occupation, 
wrong  habits  are  certain  to  appear.  The  ma- 
son makes  two  motions  with  his  trowel  where 
he  should  make  but  one.  The  accountant 
substitutes  "short  cuts"  in  adding  where  all 
the  operations  should  be  taken  in  regular  order 
and  made  as  automatic  as  the  few  short  cuts 
previously  developed.  The  executive  has  the 


Capitalizing  Experience  325 

habit  of  depending  upon  "desultory"  memory 
where  the  logical  should  be  developed.  The 
salesman  in  speaking  to  a  critical  customer 
says  "he  don't,"  instead  of  saying  "he  doesn't" ; 
"gents'  goods"  instead  of  "men's  goods." 
Every  investigation  into  the  human  actions 
and  the  human  methods  of  thinking  as  involved 
in  business  reveals  the  presence  of  unfortunate 
habits  such  as  the  examples  here  cited. 

Therefore,  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  events 
in  the  business  and  industrial  world  of  the  last 
twenty  years  is  the  study  of  the  occupation 
habits  of  the  workman  to  which  reference  was 
made  in  the  first  paragraphs  of  this  chapter. 
The  research  has  been  especially  successful 
in  dealing  with  the  occupation  habits  of  me- 
chanics. 

The  fundamental  discovery  was  made  that 
the  workman's  occupation  habits  are  not  such 
as  enable  him  to  accomplish  his  task  in  an 
economical  and  efficient  manner.  To  dis- 
cover what  occupation  habits  should  be  de- 
veloped, experts  in  each  of  several  typical 
establishments  were  assigned  the  task  of 


326      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

making  a  careful  study  of  every  movement  of 
eye,  hand,  foot,  and  body,  and  the  rate  and 
sequence  of  all  the  movements  necessary  for 
performing  single  tasks  most  easily  and  effi- 
ciently. The  experts  were  also  to  study  the 
tools,  the  materials,  and  conditions  best 
adapted  to  the  work.  In  general,  the  ex- 
perts found  the  greatest  opportunity  for  im- 
provement in  the  movements  of  the  men.  As  a 
result  of  this  research,  numerous  processes 
have  been  scientifically  standardized.  The 
workmen  have  been  taught  the  new  and  better 
way  and  have  been  drilled  till  the  processes 
have  been,  so  far  as  possible,  reduced  to  occu- 
pation habits.  The  workmen  have  been  easily 
induced  to  acquire  the  new  habits,  as  their 
earning  capacity  is  thereby  greatly  increased. 
Ordinarily,  a  considerable  bonus  is  awarded  to 
all  workmen  who  develop  the  desired  habits 
and  perform  the  task  exactly  as  prescribed  by 
the  expert. 

An  investigation  into  the  results  secured 
from  the  adoption  of  this  scientific  attempt 
to  study  and  to  regulate  the  occupation 


Capitalizing  Experience  327 

habits  of  workmen  reveals  most  gratifying 
success. 

Mr.  H.  R.  Hathaway,  an  expert  engineer, 
testifies  that  "under  this  system  a  workman 
can  turn  out  from  two  to  four  times  as  much 
work"  as  he  was  able  to  accomplish  when 
working  with  his  old  habits. 

Mr.  Lewis  Sanders,  of  the  General  Engi- 
neering Company,  New  York,  reports  most 
satisfactory  results  from  the  introduction  of 
this  systematic  attempt  to  regulate  the  occu- 
pation habits  of  employees.  A  typical  ex- 
ample which  he  reports  is  the  following :  It 
regularly  took  a  man  one  minute  and  forty 
seconds  to  set  a  piece  in  a  jig.  "After  a  study 
of  the  exact  motions  required  to  pick  the  piece 
up  and  set  it  accurately,  we  showed  the  same 
man  how  to  do  it  in  twenty  seconds."  This 
workman  soon  reduced  the  correct  movement 
to  habit,  attained  the  specified  speed,  and 
without  in  any  way  working  harder  than  for- 
merly was  assisted  to  increase  his  efficiency  four 
hundred  per  cent. 

A    well-known    engineering    company    re- 


328      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

quired  the  reading  of  twelve  thermometers, 
each  every  two  minutes.  The  man  assigned 
to  the  task  could  rarely  read  so  many  as 
eight  of  them  in  the  two  minutes.  An  ex- 
pert took  up  the  problem  and  at  first  could 
do  no  better  than  the  first  man.  The  expert 
studied  the  most  favorable  position  of  the 
head  and  eyes  for  reading,  eliminated  all 
useless  motions,  and  discovered  that  the 
twelve  thermometers  could  then  be  read  in 
one  minute  and  fifty  seconds.  The  work- 
man who  previously  had  with  difficulty  read 
eight  thermometers  in  two  minutes  soon 
acquired  the  proper  occupation  habits  and 
was  enabled  to  read  the  twelve  with  perfect 
ease.  His  efficiency  was  increased  forty  per 
cent,  and  the  task  was  rendered  less  exact- 
ing than  before. 

Typewriting  is  carried  on  by  habits.  The 
habit  of  writing  most  naturally  formed  is 
that  known  as  the  sight  system.  Recently, 
attempts  have  been  successfully  made  to  en- 
able the  operators  to  form  the  habit  of  writ- 
ing by  touch  rather  than  by  sight.  The 


Capitalizing  Experience  329 

operator  who  acquires  the  habit  of  locating 
the  keys  by  touch  writes  much  faster  and 
with  less  nervous  strain  than  the  operator 
who  writes  from  sight. 

No  one  has  been  more  successful  in  study- 
ing occupation  habits  than  Mr.  Frank  B. 
Gilbreth,  an  expert  in  the  building  trades. 
He  discovered  that  in  constructing  a  brick 
wall  a  good  mason  can  lay  one  hundred 
and  twenty  bricks  in  an  hour  and  that  in 
laying  each  brick  he  makes  eighteen  distinct 
motions.  The  motions  were  not  made  in  an 
economical  sequence ;  some  of  them  were 
useless,  and  merely  exhausted  the  energy 
of  the  workman.  Mr.  Gilbreth  attempted 
to  apply  to  the  industry  of  bricklaying  the 
principles  of  billiard  playing.  Every  motion 
of  the  mason  should  be  a  "play  for  posi- 
tion." He  should  make  each  motion  so 
as  to  be  ready  for  the  next.  For  example, 
the  motion  of  placing  the  mortar  for  the  end 
joint  should  end  with  the  trowel  in  position 
ready  to  cut  off  the  hanging  mortar.  When 
the  motions  are  made  in  the  correct  sequence, 


330      Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business 

two  or  more  of  them  can  be  combined  and 
performed  in  but  little  more  time  than  would 
be  required  to  make  each  of  the  separate 
motions.  Thus,  cutting  off  mortar,  buttering 
the  end  of  the  laid  brick,  and  reaching  for 
more  mortar  can  all  be  performed  as  a  single 
movement.  In  this  way  the  motions  of  the 
mason  have  been  reduced  from  eighteen  to 
five  per  brick.  All  this  change  has  been 
brought  about  from  a  study  of  the  occupation 
habits  of  masons.  In  discussing  the  results, 
Mr.  Gilbreth  says  :  "It  has  changed  the  entire 
method  of  laying  bricks  by  reducing  the  kind, 
number,  sequence,  and  length  of  motions. 
The  economic  value  of  motion  study  has  been 
proved  by  the  fact  that  we  have  more  than 
tripled  the  workman's  output  in  bricklaying 
and  at  the  same  time  lowered  cost  and  in- 
creased wages  simultaneously,  and  the  end 
is  not  yet." 

Attempts  to  develop  beneficial  occupa- 
tion habits  in  executives  have  not  yet  been 
exhaustively  and  scientifically  carried  out. 
Such  experiments  are,  however,  sure  to  be 


Capitalizing  Experience  331 

successful,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  be- 
fore another  decade  has  passed  the  habits 
of  executives  will  have  been  as  successfully 
studied  and  controlled  as  have  the  occupation 
habits  of  mechanics  cited  above. 

The  introduction  of  physics  and  chemistry 
have  led  to  marvelous  results  in  methods 
of  manufacture  and  transportation.  Those 
who  have  given  most  attention  to  the  ad- 
vances of  psychology  during  the  past  two 
decades  are  confident  that  by  the  proper 
application  of  psychology  the  efficiency  of 
men  is  to  be  increased  beyond  the  idle  dream 
of  the  optimist  of  the  past.  Since  by  a  study 
of  habits  the  efficiency  of  men  in  fundamen- 
tal occupations  has  been  increased  from  forty 
to  four  hundred  per  cent,  it  is  hard  to  prophesy 
what  results  are  to  be  secured  from  more  ex- 
tensive studies. 


INDEX 


Ability,  potential,  231. 

Accidents,  mine,  96. 

Acclimated,  17. 

Acclimatization,  18. 

Accountant,  experienced,  319. 

Advance,  periods  of,  232;  of 
learning,  242. 

Africa,  189. 

Air,  172;  foul,  180. 

Alertness,  mental,  44. 

Alphabet,  repeating,  284. 

Altruistic,  203. 

American,  business,  24;  steel- 
makers, 48,  206;  executives, 
118;  ideals,  205;  people,  209  f., 
219. 

Architecture,  174. 

Armour,  87. 

Athletic,  contest,  9 ;  events,  169 ; 
trainer,  211. 

Attention,  3 ;  passive,  109  f . ; 
secondary  passive,  112  ff. ; 
voluntary,  in  ff.,  123,  234, 
249  ff.,  279. 

Attitudes,  132  ff.,  177;  receptive, 
182,  183,  187 ;  promotion  of, 


193, 


202,     215;     "  do-or-die," 


250;  personal,  279  ff. 
Authority,  plenary,  88. 

"  Bad  days,"  207. 
Bessemer  converters,  48. 


Bicycles,  194. 

"  Big  "  selling  months,  72. 

"  Bogy  "  in  golf,  55  f. 

Bohemian  woman,  288. 

Bonus,  35,    142,    145,   165,   178, 

252,304;  system,  297,  326. 
Book,    W.    F.,    "  Psychology   of 

Skill,"   227. 

Bookkeeping,  experience  in,  282. 
Boor,  324. 

Boss,  49,  83,  178,  253. 
Boy,  messenger,  7;  errand,  277. 
Brain,  309. 
Breakdowns,  208. 
"  Breaking  in,"  41,  232,  237. 
British  Iron  and  Steel  Institute, 

49- 

Brooding,  habit  of,  216. 
Bryan    &    Harter,    Psychological 

Review,  230. 

"  Cabinet  meetings,"  119. 
Campaign,  educational,  102,  155 ; 

advertising,  238. 
Capacities,  mental,  134,  178. 
Capitalizing    experience,  303   ff. 
Carnegie,  Andrew,  49  ff. ;  mills, 

57  f.,  87;  his  cabinet,  94  f., 

221. 

Caution  in  competition,  61. 
Cells,    brain    and    muscle,    172, 

173- 


333 


334 


Index 


Chemistry,  4,  7,  331. 
Christ,  85,  206. 
Clauston,  Dr.,  206. 
Cleveland,  Grover,  188. 
Clubs,  local,  220. 
Coach,  9,  303. 
Coaching,  effect  of,  9,  10. 
College  grades,  16. 
Combustion,  171. 
Commendation    in    competition, 

62  f.,   73. 
Competition,  48  ff. 
Concentration,  104  ff. 
Connection,  body  and  mind,  121. 
Consciousness,  172. 
Conservation     of     individuality, 

94. 
Consumption,    comparative,    50, 

172,  173. 
Contests,  68 ;  shooting  match,  69 ; 

balloon  race,  70. 
Cooperation  of  employees,  80. 
Cost  of  living,  160. 
Courses,  cooperative,  270  f.;    in 

college,  282 ;  automatic,  320. 
Crane,  R.  P.,  20. 
Curve  practice,  224  ff. 

Danger  signal,  211. 
Darwin,  Charles,  22  ff. 
Devices,  mechanical,  170. 
Dickens,  C.,  176. 
Discipline,  n,  179. 
Discomfort,  165,  177. 
Disparity,  168. 
Dissipations,  220. 
Distinction,  social,  141. 
Distribution,  i,  3,  4. 


Doherty,  H.  L.,  217. 
"  Dragged  out,"  168. 
Drill,  3. 

"  Easy  improvements,"  246. 

Edison,  14,  37. 

Education,  industrial,  201;  work 
on,  219;  school,  264;  theo- 
retical, 299. 

Efficiency,  see  Chap.  I,  7,  16; 
personal,  105,  180,  186;  curve 
of,  223,  251 ;  high,  240;  slumps 
in,  253. 

Effort,  voluntary,  in,  124. 

Electric,  fans,  166 ;  lights,  2. 

"Employment,"  101. 

Energies,  16;  mental,  20;  ex- 
penditure of,  21. 

Engines,  gas,  2 ;  steam  turbine,  2. 

English,  ironmasters,  48,  319, 
320. 

Enthusiasm,  186,  187,  190. 

Environment,  physical,  2,  179  f., 
1 80;  factors  in,  253. 

Establishments,  49,  158;  suc- 
cessful, 175. 

European,  208. 

Exhaustion,  168,  172,  173,  284. 

Experience,  see  Chaps.  XI-XII; 
most  valuable,  296. 

Expression,  verbal,  301. 

"  February  sale,"  53. 
Field,  Marshall,  87,  94,  193. 
Fluctuations,    in    learning,    232; 

subject  to,  249. 
Food,  172. 
Football,  9. 


Index 


335 


Forfeiture  of  bond,  75. 
French,  reading,  284. 
Fulton,  37. 

"  Garden  cities,"  122. 
General  Electric  Co.,  271. 
Generations,  rising,  220. 
Geniuses,   potential,    191;    busi- 
ness, 191. 
German,  319,  320. 
"  Getting  together,"  198. 
Gilbreth,  F.  B.,  329  f. 
Girls,  sewing,  165. 
Gladstone,  13,  221. 
Golf,  54;  bogy,  194,  248. 
"  Go  stale,"  235,  251. 
Government,  paternalistic,  89. 
Grant,  91. 

Grasp,  intellectual,  22. 
Great  Lakes,  48. 
Greece,  ancient,  219. 
Grip,  maximum,  225  f. 
Guilds,  industrial,  197. 

Habit  formation,  see  Chap.  XIII ; 
special  conditions,  296  ff.,  308; 
social,  323;  personal,  321; 
reduce  exhaustion,  318. 

Handicaps,  in  competition,  61; 
principle  of,  61  f. 

"  Handy  men,"  96,  253. 

Harriman,  E.  H.,  17. 

Hathaway,  H.  R.,  327. 

Health  and  vigor,  278. 

Herculean,  14,  205. 

Hill,  J.  J.,  20. 

Hours,  reasonable,  82;  of  free- 
dom, 219. 


"  House  organs,"  see  papers, 
35 ;  photographs  in,  63,  67,  69. 

"House  patriotism,"  80;  his- 
tory and  policies,  90;  picnics, 
101. 

Human  sympathy,  as  a  factor, 
85  ff. 

Idaho  orchard,  287. 

Ideas,  management,  44. 

Illumination,  180. 

Imitation,  26  ff.,  53;   voluntary, 

3°- 

Improvements,  periods  of,  233. 
Incubation,  periods  of,  233,  247, 

249,  253. 

Industrial  towns,  122. 
Industry,  attitude  of,  136. 
Injuries,  169. 
Instincts,   to  collect,    139,   188; 

hunting,    188;     specific,    190; 

of  man,  190;    of  competition, 

64. 

Institute,  Smithsonian,  189. 
Insurance,  160. 
Interests,  outside,  222;   novelty, 

239,     249;      sustained,     240; 

appeals  to,  240;   spontaneous, 

251- 

"  In  the  running,"  71. 
Instruction,  270  f. 
Invention,  3,  48,  217;    flagging, 

239- 

James,   Professor  William,    207, 

218,  316. 
Jefferson,  91. 
Jones,  W.  R.,  48,  50  f. 


336 


Index 


Judgments,  practical,  285  ff. ; 
reflective,  287  5. ;  expert, 
2932. 

Knowledge,  empirical,  244;  ac- 
quired, 243. 

Labor,  hand,  3,  101 ;  intellectual, 
168,  170;  manual,  168;  dig- 
nity of,  199. 

Law,  7. 

Lawyers,  175. 

Learning,  rate  of,  231. 

Lincoln,  91. 

Love  of  the  game,  186  ff.; 
classifying,  190 ;  summarized, 
192 ;  social  prestige,  194, 195 ; 
to  stimulate,  197 ;  developing, 
202. 

Loyalty,  75  ff. 

Lyons,  Joseph,  208,  209. 

McCormick,  C.  H.,  24. 
Machinist,  skilled,  260. 
Magician,  i. 
Making    Experience    an    Asset, 

276  ff. 

"  Making  good,"  71,  251. 
"  Making  Psychology  Practical," 

301. 
Manager,  6, 154;  successful,  143 ; 

office,  244. 
Marketing,  3. 

Medium  of  competition,  64. 
Memory,  desultory,  325. 
Methods,  business,  i ;  specific,  25 ; 

of  training,  119;  improved,  181, 

304;  acquisition  of,  243,  266  ff. 


Millennium,  203. 

Miser,  140. 

Models,  energetic,  2,  33. 

Mood,  mental,  218. 

Movements,     prelearned,      245; 

necessary,  303  ff. 
Muck  raking,  195. 

National  Cash  Register  Co.,  272. 

Nature,  laws  of,  211. 

"  Need,"  73- 

"  New  blood,"  156,  276. 

New  York  Herald,  210. 

Nourishment,  18. 

Nervous  system,  12. 

Novice,  244,  277. 

Ohio  territory,  98. 

"  One  thing,"  315. 

"  Organization  spirit,"  80,  84. 

Ornamentation,  unobtrusive,  180. 

Output,  158,  165,  167,  168. 

"  Overselling,"  98. 

Overtension,  214. 

Pace,  2. 
Pacemaker,  52. 
"  Paul  economy,"  179. 
Palmer,  Potter,  87. 
Papers,  weekly  or  monthly,  35. 
Peers,  rivalry  between,  56. 
Perseverance,  169. 
Personal  relations  in  loyalty,  83. 
Personal  relationship  with  work- 
ers, 87  ff. 

Personality,  84,  87,  93,  176. 
Philanthropy,  221  f. 
Physics,  7,  331. 


Index 


337 


Piano  playing,  284. 

"  Pick  up,"  259. 

Piecework,  142, 143, 145, 162, 178, 

252. 

Plans,  profit-sharing,  90. 
Plateau,  233  ff.,  239,  243  ff. 
Pleasure,  165  ff. 
Policy,    house's,    152;    multiple 

tryout,  99. 

Population,  British,  207. 
"  Popup,"  127. 
Poverty,  179. 

Practice  plus  Theory,  254  ff. 
Press,  printing,  2 ;  punch,  3. 
Preventive,  169. 
Prizes   in   competition,    62,    67, 

165. 

Production,  instruments  of,  i. 
Profits,  surrender  of,  84. 
Promotions,    73,    101,    155,    156, 

IS7- 

Prostrations,  nervous,  21. 
Psychology,   6,   7;    law  of,   25; 

modern,    29;    work   on,    132; 

conception  of,  134 ;  student  of, 

138;     research,    198;     course, 

295  >  3°°j   3°8  ff-5   interest  in, 

324,  33i- 

Public  opinion,  75. 
Puzzle,   Chinese  block,    266  ff. ; 

mechanical,  290 ;  results  of,  291. 

Quarters,  working,  82. 
Quota,  72. 

Rate   of   Improvement   in   Effi- 
ciency, 223  ff. 
Recognition,  social,  148. 


Recreation,  174;  hours  of,  221. 
Recruits,  new,  46,  96. 
Regiments,  57. 
Relaxation,  204  ff. ;  necessity  for, 

210;  power  of.  214;  gospel  of, 

215;  complete,  216. 
Research,  14. 
Resistance,  line  of,  no. 
Reward,  monetary,  139. 
"  Right  way,"  252. 
Rockefeller,  221. 
Rooms,  work,  181 ;  lunch,  181. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  13,  189. 
"  Rush  "  months,   65 ;    seasons, 

72. 

"  Sales  quota,"  65  ff. 

Sanders,  Lewis,  327. 

San  Francisco  fire,  98. 

School,  night,  181,  201;  life,  282; 
engineering,  270,  299;  sales- 
men training,  28  f . 

"  Scientific  management,"  252  ff. 

Scientific  study,  5. 

Second  wind,  12. 

Self-preservation,  means  of,  138, 
139,  144 ;  instincts  of,  141. 

Self -protection,  methods  of,  117. 

Selling,  haphazard,  50. 

Settlement  workers,  220. 

Shadwell,  Arthur,  206. 

Ships,  steam,  2. 

"  Showing  how,"  46. 

"  Side  lines,"  26, 131, 154. 

Simmons,  E.  C.,  20. 

Sixth  sense,  6. 

Skill,  special,  43;  acquisition  of, 
246;  act  of,  256;  in  perform- 


338 


Index 


ing,  256  ff. ;  perfection  of,  262, 
264  f. 

Sleep,  14. 

"  Slowing  down  "  process,  32. 

Slump,  summer,  165  f.;  general, 
226 ;  profound,  247. 

Social,  194;  prestige,  202;  de- 
mands, 279. 

Social  approval,  desire  for,  72. 

Society,  organized,  113;  whims 
of,  194. 

Speed,  extra,  83 ;  daily  record  for, 
224;  average,  224,  282;  eco- 
nomical, 304. 

Speeding  up,  34,  313. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  219. 

"  Sporting  editor,"  69,  73. 

"  Square  deal,"  99. 

Stability,  native,  22  f. 

Stagnation,  periods  of,  233. 

Standard,  of  artist,  197;  of 
capitalist,  197;  method,  252; 
of  efficiency,  253. 

"  Star  "  club,  67. 

"Steady  job,"  1 54. 

"  Stealing  his  trade,"  260  ff. 

Steel  Corporation,  50  ff. 

Stephenson,  37. 

Stepping  stones,  196. 

Stimulus,  196 ;  personal  efficiency- 
ideals,  279. 

Storage  battery,  174. 

Strength,  muscular,  7,  183,  184; 
physical,  226. 

Strike,  161. 

Students,  16,  133 ;  colleges,  278. 

Subordinate,  187. 

Success,  first,  239. 


Suggestible,  177. 

Suggestion,  177, 178,  183, 185. 

Sunday,  219. 

"  Swell,"  196. 

Swift,  E.  J.,  "  Mind  in  the  Mak- 
ing," 231. 

System,  apprentice,  26;  sugges- 
tion, 44;  premium,  178. 

"  Talks  to  Teachers,"  208,  219. 
Taylor,  F.  W.,  5  ff.,  24. 
Teachers,  college,  270. 
Team  work,  90, 145. 
Telegraph,  7 ;  operator,  226  f . 
Telephone,  2,  7. 
Temperature,  165. 
Tennis,  284  f. 
Therapeutics,  mental,  214. 
Thompson,  Edgar,  works,  51. 
Torrid  zone,  17  f. 
Traditions  and  ideals,  91. 
Trifles,  i. 

Trips,  educational,  44  ff . 
Tugboat,  213,  214. 

Union,  assemblers',  152. 
Union  Pacific,  17. 

Vacation  camps,  101. 
Vacations,  14. 
Ventilation,  179. 

Wages,  fair,  82,  153?  commis- 
sions, 143 ;  piece  rates  for,  150; 
maximum,  152;  sums  paid  in, 
153;  value,  241;  little  or  no, 
262. 

Wanamaker,  John,  271. 


Index 


339 


Warming  up,  n,  12,  232. 

"  Wars,"  68. 

Washington,  85,  91. 

Waste,  elimination  of,  6;  body, 
173;  poisonous,  173;  in  meth- 
ods, 261. 

Watson,  E.  P.,  13  f. 

Weariness,  12;  aftermath  of,  177. 


"  Welfare,"  features,  122. 

Westinghouse,  37. 

Will,  effort  of,  in,  124;  strength 

of,  in. 
Wizard,  i. 

Yawning,  contagion  of,  31. 


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